'The Voice' season 17: Judges' reasons for failing to turn for Jay Miah defy the foundations of the show itself
The time has finally arrived and after a long wait, we got to see 'The Voice' season 17 grace our screens with its two-hour premiere episode.
NBC's 'The Voice' season 17 premiered on Monday night, with coaches John Legend, Kelly Clarkson and Blake Shelton returning to their red chairs once again. This season, with Adam Levine no longer on the show, Gwen Stefani returns to 'The Voice' and takes his place as the fourth coach.
'The Voice' kicked off its brand new season with the Blind Auditions, and while there were many contestants who stood out with their impeccable voice range and pitch, and impressed the judges making them turn their chairs, there was one exceptional singer who sadly failed to do so.
Jay Miah was the third contestant to perform on the show, performing his rendition of 'Never Enough' from 'The Greatest Showman'. Miah hit the high notes and jumped fences with it. But sadly it wasn't enough for the judges to turn their chair for him.
The judges did not know that Miah was a male vocalist, and assuming it was a woman whose vocals were not up to par they didn't turn their chairs for him. But they were left astonished when he was done with his performance and they got to see the singer. Miah shared that he is a drag performer and all the judges agreed that if they had known he was a male vocalist it would have made them turn.
Aged 30, sadly Miah's journey on 'The Voice' this season came to an early end. The versatile singer's elimination from the series during the blind audition sent fans into a frenzied fit with them calling for him to be brought back and given another chance.
Taking to Twitter a fan wrote, "#JayMiah is my happy place @NBCTheVoice judges really blew it just now. @kellyclarkson how could you not turn for him???? So disappointed. Bring Jay back right now! #VoiceSaveJay #TheVoice."
Adding to that another fan said, "You are amazing please #thevoice bring Jay back #JayMiah."
"#thevoice is dumb as f**k for passing on Jay... Makes me not want to watch!!!," said a fan. While another added, "So what does this little country girl have that Jay didn’t have @johnlegend @blakeshelton @gwenstefani @kellyclarkson? All that screaming with a country twang? You guys will overreact to anything #TheVoice."
A few fans were also offended that the judges revealed that they would have turned if they knew he was a male vocalist. They state that the show is called 'The Voice' for a reason, one judges by the voice and not their gender or how they look.
"“We didn’t know we were talking about a ‘he’” “If I Saw you, I would have turned” It’s called The Voice for a reason, you listened to the voice. Doesn’t matter what Jay looked like. #TheVoice," wrote a fan on Twitter.
Adding to that another fan said, "I’m seriously confused. You all would have turned had you known Jay was a man? #TheVoice."
'The Voice' season 17 airs every Monday and Tuesday night at 8pm et/pt only on NBC. Check your local listings for more information.