Registration for the 9th Katara Prize for Quran Recitation will commence tomorrow, Tuesday, and run until September 30, according to a statement from the Cultural Village Foundation (Katara).
The reward seeks to recognize the most beautiful and melodic voices, to promote and uncover extraordinary skills in Quran recitation, and to showcase renowned reciters who follow Tajweed's guidelines. It also aims to encourage the next generation to stay devoted to their faith and understand their obligations to their Islamic beliefs and message, while also honoring brilliance and inventiveness in reciting the Holy Quran.
According to Katara, a special committee will review each entry and choose 100 contestants to move on to the qualifying round, which will take place in Doha. There will be five competitors in each of the 20 televised episodes in which the qualifiers participate. Each episode will have a winner who moves on to the semifinals.
Twenty competitors—five of whom are reserves—will participate in five more episodes, each with five players, in the semifinals. Each episode will have one competitor move on to the final round, where the top five finishers will be revealed.
During the holy month of Ramadan, the episodes will air as part of a special show produced in partnership with Qatar TV.
Three experts in Tajweed and Quranic recitation, along with three experts in vocal performance, melody, and voice aesthetics, make up the six-member Katara Prize for Quran Recitation judging panel.
Additionally, Katara will record the Holy Quran being recited by the first-place winner in its own studios and distribute the entire audio recording.
First place will receive QAR 500,000, second place will receive QAR 400,000, third place will receive QAR 300,000, fourth place will receive QAR 200,000, and fifth place will receive QAR 100,000. The Katara Prize for Quran Recitation has a total prize fund of QAR 1.5 million.
