Juliet Simms could barely keep her eyes open when she arrived to perform for fans at Universal Citywalk in Los Angeles on Thursday.
Simms — one of just four contestants remaining on season two of “The Voice” — had been in rehearsal until 2:00 a.m. the night before and was operating on just two hours of sleep.
“This morning is the most challenging part (of the competition),” she told The Post before taking the stage. “I do well under pressure, but I am just trying to summon up all of the energy I have in me to pull through.”
Simms, a 25 year-old rocker from northern California, admits the past week has been so hectic she still hadn’t picked out a song to perform on the show’s live two hour finale Monday night.
“The Voice” — which crowns its winner on Tuesday — features “teams” of artists, mentored by Grammy winners Cee Lo Green, Blake Shelton, Adam Levine and Christina Aguilera.
This year’s finalists are:
Simms (Team Cee Lo): Juliet was just 16 when she embarked on her first cross country tour of bars and nightclubs — so her mother had to chaperone. “I have been on stage my entire life,” says Juliet, who is now the lead singer of a band called Automatic Loveletter and dates Black Veil Brides vocalist Andy Biersack.
Tony Lucca (Team Adam): The father of two spent four years along side Christina Aguilera on “The Mickey Mouse Club.” But lately it appears the Grammy winner has been trying to get him booted from the show. She called one recent performance “one dimensional” and encouraged Levine to advance his competitor, Katrina Parker to the finals. “She’s the real star,” Aguilera said.
Chris Mann (Team Christina): A trained opera singer, Mann has reached the finals of the competition by performing an inspired version of “Ave Maria.” Chris — who was born and raised in Wichita, Kansas — turned 30 on Saturday.
Jermaine Paul (Team Blake): A long-time backup singer for Alicia Keys, Paul got his first record deal with Shaquille O’Neal’s label in 1997. The father of two turned down a basketball scholarship from Syracuse University to pursue his dream of becoming a music star.