Paula Abdul

Paula Abdul was born in San Fernando Valley, California. At age eight, she began dancing lessons. She attended Van Nuys High School, where she was senior class head cheerleader and president. Her graduation was in 1980 and entered the college process at Cal State Northridge to major in radio and television. 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 recruited her to choreograph the 1984 "Torture" which was their first of a series of films and videos she would choreograph. After the release of her debut CD "Forever Your Girl" started singing, she turned to singing and became a popular performer and dancer. Her time as an American Idol judge (2002) has helped her become a more popular performer/dancer. Her father (Harry Abdul) is from a Sephardic Jewish background from Syria. Her mother is Jewish and was born in Canada. Her parents were residents of Canada, Syria, Brazil and Syria. This has led to many different stories about her religion and nationality in the media. Born in Hollywood, California to Harry Abdul (another livestock trader in Brazil) & Lorainne Abdul (former assistant of film director Billy Wilder), she grew up. She's been singing and dancing since she was just seven years of age, on an adventure across America. Tap dancing was also something she learned, and she was awarded a scholarship to the school of tap dancing. In later years, she attended Cal State Northridge College where she earned a degree as an Broadcast radio specialist. She auditioned for the Los Angeles Lakers NBA cheerleading team. The result was earning $50 per game her freshman year.