Tampa Bay Drag Queen Performs As Avatar Doll On 'AlterEgo' FOX Show

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — A St. Petersburg entertainer who is on FOX's new show, "AlterEgo," turned a "no" from star singers Gwen Stefani, Blake Shelton and Kelly Clarkson into a "yes."

Prior to 32-year-old Jay Miah making the first round of "AlterEgo" auditions in California, he experienced rejection at "The Voice" two years ago. The celebrity panel had no idea Miah is a man with his classically trained voice that is often mistaken for a woman's.

Miah performs as a drag queen at venues in Tampa Bay such as Cocktail Lounge in St. Petersburg. He also sings in choir at First Unity and Today's Church, both in St. Pete.

"I realized in that process that the no I had gotten was a yes because I am a yes," Miah told Patch. "Yes, you don't need to be validated for your art form. If you are a painter, paint. If you are a singer, you sing. If you're a writer, you write. I believe you give back to God when you do what you're called to do because you're navigating in the lane that you're called to be in."

He went home and sat with himself and told himself not to worry because you never know what's going to happen. People and producers remembered him from "The Voice" and encouraged him to try again on "AlterEgo."

"I kept going through the process and they flew me out to California, and they picked me. I got to be the first one of the first 20 people on this," Miah said.

Wednesday, Miah had his singing debut on FOX as the avatar Neveah King. Neveah is Heaven spelled backward, and King is in memory of his best friend who took her life a few years ago.

A group of his friends from St. Petersburg and Tampa joined Miah at his City Side Lounge watch party in Tampa during the debut. Miah sang "I Will Always Love You," by the late Whitney Houston, and the emotion and power in his voice brought tears to the audience in the studio and to some of his friends at City Side.

Singers competing on the show stand backstage and wear a virtual costume as they sing so the audience only sees and hears each singer's avatar. Miah felt he had the freedom to be more open with his appearance than in past singing auditions. He shared that just because St. Petersburg and Tampa have open-minded communities toward the LGBTQ population, there will always be those people who are not, so performing as a woman would not be an option.

"They gave us the options to be non-binary or whatever gender you wanted. Gender fluid. I picked the doll. I feel like my voice, which resonates higher when I sing, was perfect for that character. I felt like I was able to really be this character and breathe life into," Miah said.

Miah tapped into different emotions and thoughts as he sung Houston's song from backstage. He was in the present moment thinking about an ex of his. "Sometimes in life, we love things and we leave them alone. And if they're meant for us, they'll come back, but if they're not hold them in a place of love and just let it be," Miah said.

Catch Miah perform another song Wednesday night on FOX at 9 p.m.