By Katie Murphy ’14| Staff Writer 

To potentially increase her stardom, Paulina Perakis ’14 auditioned for NBC’s  prime-time reality show “The Voice” on Monday, February 3rd.

Perakis has been juggling the life of being a regular student as well as her career as a singer-songwriter for a couple of years now, using the name Paulina Jayne for her music.

Unlike most contestants on “The Voice”, Perakis was invited to the audition by Grammy Award- winning producer, Toby Wright. She was on her way to Nashville when she received Wright’s call and immediately seized the opportunity, Perakis said.

 “He said ‘hey Paulina, I have a few invite-only auditions for “The Voice”, would you like one’ and I immediately said ‘heck yeah’,” said Perakis. “So I immediately went down to Nashville in the first week of February to audition.”

Because of the invite, Perakis was also able to skip the first two rounds of auditions, she said. She was able to jump into the third round of auditioning, which is the last round of auditions before the ‘blind auditions’ are televised.

 “I was so thankful that I did not have to wait out in the pouring rain for the first ‘cattle call’,” said Perakis.

 Four songs had to be prepared for the audition, Perakis said, however she only performed two during the audition. She chose to sing “Natural Woman” by Aretha Franklin and “Wake me Up” by Avicii.

“My vocal coach, Herschel Boone and I worked out some arrangements for both songs that made them sound country because I had to stick to one genre,” said Perakis. “I played my Gibson Hummingbird guitar, and thank God because it is ten times more nerve-wracking playing without it.”

Jennifer Champagne, a publicist from The 513 Agency, said the agency has been very flexible while working with Perakis by helping her manage school as well as her career. Champagne also said working with Perakis has been a lot of fun, and she admires her drive and ability to stay focused with everything she has in her life.

“School is Paulina’s priority, she graduates in June,” said Champagne. “After that, her career will become the main focus until she starts college in the fall. In the end, it is all about having a consistent pipeline, being flexible and keeping focused on the goals.”

Having worked with Perakis for quite some time, Champagne was very confident in Perakis’ talent and feels strongly that the judges and producers of “The Voice” felt the same about her abilities, said Champagne.

“They (Wright and Perakis) have known each other for a while and he clearly thought she had the chops to represent,” said Champagne. “In terms of “The Voice”, I believe the judges received a good dose of her talent at the actual audition.”

Christy Tech ’14 has been supporting Perakis since the beginning of her career, said Tech. Even though they do not get the luxury of seeing each other every day at school, they still keep in contact daily.

“I have supported her through ‘The Voice” auditions by just letting her know what an awesome opportunity it was,” said Tech. “If it does not work out, I know something better will come along. The sky is really the limit with Paulina.”

Despite all of Perakis’ successes, Tech still admires her most for staying humble and focused through all of the fame and opportunities, said Tech. That good character that Perakis has shown has been what has made their friendship so strong.

“I am most proud of Paulina for her genuine and kind soul. She is the most real and positive person I have ever met and nothing will ever change that,” said Tech. “In the face of all her successes, she remains the same and that is what I am most proud of.”

Perakis is also appreciative of the support her friends and family have shown over social media.

“My friends have been so loving and open-hearted, sending me texts and tweets and posting pictures and comments on Facebook,” said Perakis. “I am so blessed to be surrounded by such amazing people.”

Perakis is hoping to hear the outcome of “The Voice” auditions in the near future, said Perakis. With the possibility of making it on the hit television show, Perakis understands how she is going to have to manage the show and school.

“If I were to make it, it would affect this school year and my first semester of college,” said Perakis. “If I remember correctly, I would have to block out a solid month of this school year and two in my first semester of college.”

If she makes it to the show’s televised ‘blind auditions’, Perakis will have to travel to Los Angeles, where the show is recorded.

Keeping this in mind, Perakis said she is aware that there could be a possibility of taking classes online. With all of those stipulations, she is willing to alter her life to be a part of such a great opportunity as The Voice.

Although it can be difficult at times, Perakis said she is thankful for all the support and opportunities she has had to showcase herself as an artist. Hopefully in the seventh season of “The Voice”, South will be able to see one of their own perform on the stage.

“Songwriting is my first love, so being able to sing my music and share it with people has been a blast,” said Perakis. “ I love getting to know all of the personalities that the people in this world have to offer, and playing music is a great conduit to get to know all of them.”