Jazz singer Hilary Kole dabbed tears of joy from her cheeks yesterday and said she was “exhilarated” moments after a judge freed her from the contract that bound her to her former manager/boyfriend-turned-nemesis.

“I feel a great sense of joy and relief,” Kole, 37, gushed outside Manhattan Supreme Court yesterday. “I can now go back to doing what I do best, which is singing, and not standing in the courtroom.”

Kole, a vocalist who has performed at Carnegie Hall, has been battling ex-fiancé and Birdland owner John Valenti, 64, since he allegedly threatened in May to kill her. She claims he tried to destroy her career and stole their shared brokerage accounts.