Paula Abdul

Paula Abdul grew up in the San Fernando Valley, California. At the age of eight, she began taking dance classes. Van Nuys High School was her high school. She was also the school's head cheerleader and the senior class president. Her high school graduation was in the year 1980. After graduating, she began the college process at Cal State Northridge. There, she majored 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 movie "Torture", the first in a long sequence of videos and movies she choreographed. She began her singing career with her first CD, "Forever Your Girl", which had lackluster sales until her hit single "Straight Up" exploded onto the charts in December of 1988. she has been a renowned performer ever since. Her popularity was further boosted by her time as a judge on the hit show American Idol (2002). Her father (Harry Abdul) is from a Sephardic Jewish background from Syria. Her mother is Jewish and was born in Canada. Her parents have lived in Syria, Brazil, and Canada - and this varied background has resulted in wildly diverse stories in the media regarding her religion and/or nationality. She is the daughter of Harry Abdul, a former Brazilian livestock trader, and Lorainne Abdul, who was a former assistant to Billy Wilder in film direction. At the age of seven, she performed in musical theatre groups that traveled around America. She also took tap dancing classes that earned her the opportunity to attend a tap dancing school. She attended Cal State Northridge College, where she majored in Broadcast radio. She applied to be an athlete for the Los Angeles Lakers NBA Basketball Cheerleading team.