Katy Perry Opened Riyadh’s Awards Night for a State Buyer

Katy Perry opened the sixth Joy Awards in Riyadh on January 17, 2026, in a sparkling gold blazer, for Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority. The three-song set was her first in the kingdom. Fan votes had already locked the Arab trophies, and Hollywood and Bollywood names filled the seats.

The buyer in the room was GEA chairman Turki Alalshikh. Perry, Shah Rukh Khan, Millie Bobby Brown and Forest Whitaker were what that night purchased.

A Gold Suit, a Red Stage and Three Hits

The ceremony started at 7:00 p.m. KSA time at ANB Arena and went out broadcast live on MBC1 and Shahid, plus MBC Masr, MBC Iraq and MBC5. A lavender carpet ran before the show, a colour Perry called royal and luxurious, and flattering for the women walking it.

She told the carpet cameras it was her first time in Saudi Arabia and that the dress she arrived in was by Saudi designer Waad Aloqaili, a choice she said she made to celebrate local culture. On stage she changed into the gold blazer and wide-leg trousers. Backup dancers in red leather suits moved on a red-drenched set with steps built into the floor, while fireworks broke over the opening cue, “Welcome to the Joy Awards.”

The medley was Roar, Dark Horse and Firework, with an animated tiger built from drones. It was a short, catalog-heavy slot, not a tour date, and it stayed inside three hits that already travel. She later said she wanted to be asked back for a proper show and would like a future tour to include the kingdom. She also said the first thing she ate after landing was chicken shawarma.

Good evening, Riyadh. Music is magic, it lights even the darkest rooms. It turns stories into songs, turns motion into melody, and ordinary moments that we cherish for a lifetime. Artists give feelings to thoughts we can’t give words for!

Katy Perry, presenting Favourite Female Singer, Joy Awards 2026

The gold suit read as modest. The staging did not. That split is the product GEA keeps buying: a global catalog, cut to local dress codes, timed for a pan-Arab feed.

The General Entertainment Authority Paid for the Guest List

Alalshikh sat in the hall as chairman of the authority that runs Riyadh Season, with MBC as the broadcast partner. The Saudi Press Agency, previewing the night on January 16, 2026, placed the trophies inside Vision 2030 and called the kingdom a regional hub for entertainment. Winners were framed as names that had public impact in 2025, chosen by voting for the 2026 Joy Awards on the official app after a naming round that closed in December.

Two days after the ceremony, on January 19, Alalshikh said Riyadh Season had reached 14 million visitors and named the Joy Awards as one of the events inside that count. The previous edition, he had already told a government press conference, drew more than 20 million visitors from more than 135 countries.

THE SEASON AROUND THE AWARDS

• The edition: The Joy Awards 2026 night was the sixth, staged inside Riyadh Season by GEA with MBC.
• The clock: Doors-to-broadcast sat at 7:00 p.m. KSA time, with the lavender carpet folded into the same live feed.
• The mid-season count: Alalshikh put season attendance at 14 million on January 19, 2026, with the awards among the named draws.
• The prior peak: The edition before this one was billed at more than 20 million visitors from more than 135 countries.

Fan voting is the local layer. The guest list is the import. Human rights groups have spent years calling the wider entertainment spend a gloss on the kingdom’s record; this particular night drew more talk about the gold suit and the fireworks than a coordinated artist boycott. Unverified fee tallies still treat the opener as a purchase. GEA has not posted a price, and neither has Perry.

ANB Arena Put Shah Rukh Khan Beside Millie Bobby Brown

Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan walked the lavender carpet in black and worked as a presenter, handing a Joy honorary award to Syrian-Egyptian singer Assala Nasri with Egyptian actress Amina Khalil. He told reporters the welcome felt respectful and dignified, and that the warmth of fans in the kingdom stayed with him. On X he called the function spectacular and grand and congratulated the show on half a decade of Joy Awards.

Stranger Things actress Millie Bobby Brown, in Tamara Ralph couture, collected Personality of the Year and used the microphone to talk to girls and women who doubt themselves. Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker took a Lifetime Achievement Award, in a segment presented by Carmen Bsaibes and Youssef Al-Sherif. Former Egyptian culture minister Farouk Hosny received the other lifetime honour.

The same carpet held Oscar Isaac, Jeremy Renner, Heather Graham, Travis Fimmel, Lee Byung-hun, Squid Game lead Lee Jung-jae, Turkish actress Hande Erçel and Lebanese singer Nancy Ajram. That mix is the point of the booking. A Hollywood awards night does not need Fadl Shaker. An Arab music night does not need Whitaker. Riyadh, paying both, can sit them in one feed and call the result a people-choice show.

Who Won the 2026 Joy Awards in Riyadh?

Competitive trophies ran through six SPA-listed groups, cinema, television drama, music, directing, sports and influencers, with honorary prizes sitting outside the app. Lebanese singer Fadl Shaker, who was not in the building, still took Favourite Male Artist and Favourite Song for “Sahak El Shawq.” His son, Mohammed Fadl Shaker, won Favourite New Music Artist. Egyptian singer Angham won Favourite Female Singer.

Egyptian comedy Siko Siko won Favourite Film, and Omar El-Mohandes won Favourite Film Director for the same title. Maged El-Kedwany won Favourite Film Actor for Fiha Eh Ya’ni. Kuwaiti actress Shujoun Al Hajri won Favourite Film Actress for Urs Al-Nar.

THE 2026 FAN AND HONORARY WINNERS

Tarf Al-Obaidi won Favourite New Face in series for Ummi. Rayan Al-Ahmari and Rateel Al-Shehri took the influencer prizes. Honorary entertainment-creator awards also went to Assala Nasri, Saleh Al-Arayedh, Ahmed Al-Doughji and composer Amr Mostafa. The app decided the competitive list. Alalshikh still walked out to give Al-Khelaifi the diamond.

Perry Handed Angham the Night’s Female Prize

When Perry came back from the opening, it was to give Angham the Favourite Female Singer trophy. She praised women whose voices connect audiences, then stood with the Egyptian star who had already been booked as a live act. Angham later performed with Polish guitarist Marcin, so the winner was not a name flown in only for a clip. She was on the payroll twice, as trophy and as set.

That is how the show uses Western openers. Perry warmed a pan-Arab broadcast, spoke a soft line about music and women, and handed the actual fan prize to an Arab singer the app had already chosen. The international guest did not take an Arab category. She dressed the funnel that delivers those categories to MBC.

Feel, Angels and a Saudi Duet

British singer Robbie Williams followed with catalogue hits including “Feel,” then brought Saudi artist Ayed Yousef out for “Takhayal Law” and a duet of “Angels.” The pairing did the same job as Perry and Angham: a global voice, a local partner, one stage.

THE LIVE SETS AFTER THE OPENING

• Angham with Marcin: A live band segment for the Favourite Female Singer, not a recorded sting between trophies.
• Robbie Williams and Ayed: “Feel,” “Takhayal Law,” and “Angels” as a cross-catalog duet.
• Jude Kofie: A piano passage used as a reset between award blocks.
• Il Divo and Liz Mitchell: A vocal turn from the operatic quartet and the Boney M. singer, stacked late in the running order.
• Abeer Nehme: A tribute to artists who died in 2025, before the night swung back to prizes.
• Ya Sham: A closing theatrical segment built on Syrian drama themes, after the last honours.

Done+Dusted, in its fifth year on the show, co-produced with MBC, Stufish, Blackskull and Possible. The lavender arrivals used drone formations as well as fireworks. Production-house reach claims that followed the night have not been backed by a public auditor, and they are not used here as a headcount.

Riyadh Season Returns on October 21

Alalshikh has set the seventh Riyadh Season to open on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, as a 10-week run under the theme “Big Time,” with boxing, UFC, the Six Kings Slam, concerts, and the return of Boulevard World and Boulevard City. An October 2025 government briefing on the season that contained January’s awards already listed 11 major entertainment zones across Riyadh, 15 global championships, 34 exhibitions and festivals, more than 2,100 companies (95 percent of them local), and 4,200 private-sector contracts.

FROM THE VOTE TO THE NEXT SEASON

1. December 12, 2025: GEA opens app voting after the naming round, with nominees posted across cinema, drama, music, sports and influencers.
2. January 16, 2026: The Saudi Press Agency confirms the sixth ceremony for the next evening, at 7:00 p.m. KSA time, with Alalshikh present.
3. January 17, 2026: Perry opens at ANB Arena; fan trophies and honorary prizes are handed out on the MBC and Shahid feed.
4. January 19, 2026: Alalshikh puts Riyadh Season attendance at 14 million and cites the awards among the draws.
5. October 21, 2026: The next Riyadh Season opens for 10 weeks, on the same buyer-and-broadcast model.

Perry left the door open for a full concert. The authority that paid for the gold blazer is already selling the next season. The Joy Awards night is the proof of concept, not the end of the booking.