Paula Abdul

Paula Abdul grew up in the San Fernando Valley, California. At eight, she started taking dance classes. Van Nuys High School was where she was the class president and also the head cheerleader. Following her graduation in 1980 she entered college at Cal State-Northridge with a major in radio and TV. After joining the L.A. Lakers cheerleaders, she became head cheerleader/choreographer after only a few months, eventually dropping out of college to dance and choreograph full-time. The Jacksons hired her to choreograph their 1984 video "Torture" that was the first of a long line of movies and videos she would choreograph. She began her singing career on her debut album, "Forever Your Girl" which was not a huge success until her single "Straight Up" exploded onto the charts in December of 1988. she has been a popular performer ever since. Her popularity was further boosted by her time as a judge on the hit series American Idol (2002). Her father, Harry Abdul, is Sephardic Jewish from Syria. Her mother, also Jewish, was born in Canada. Her parents were born in Canada, Brazil, Syria and Brazil. These varied experiences have led to diverse stories in the news about her religion or nationality. Born in Hollywood, California to Harry Abdul (another livestock trader from Brazil) and Lorainne Abdul (former assistant to film director Billy Wilder), she was raised. She has been singing and dancing since she was just seven years young, during a tour of America. She took tap dance lessons and she was awarded a scholarship for the tap dancing school. Later in life she attended Cal State-Northridge College where she pursued a degree in Broadcast radio. She was a candidate for the Los Angeles Lakers NBA cheerleading team. This led to her making $50 per game in her freshman year.