Paula Abdul

Paula Abdul was born in San Fernando Valley, California. She started dancing at the age of eight. She attended Van Nuys High School, where she was the senior class president and head cheerleader. After graduation in 1980, she started college at Cal State Northridge, majoring 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. She was enlisted by The Jacksons to choreograph their 1984 "Torture" video, which was the first of a series 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 1988 . she has been a popular performer ever since. Her popularity was further boosted by her appearance as an judge on the hit series American Idol (2002). Her father (Harry Abdul) is Sephardic Jewish and hails from Syria. Her mother is also Jewish and was born in Canada. Her parents are from Canada, Brazil, Syria and Brazil. This diversity of background has led to different stories in the media concerning her religion or nationality. Born in Hollywood, California to Harry Abdul (another livestock trader from Brazil) and Lorainne Abdul (former assistant of film director Billy Wilder), she began her life. From the age of seven, she sang and danced in community musical theatre ensembles as she traveled across America. She also attended tap dancing classes that earned her an award to attend a tap dancing school. In later years, she attended Cal State Northridge College where she earned a degree as a Broadcast Radio Specialist. During that time she auditioned for the Los Angeles Lakers NBA Cheerleading team. The audition led her to a spot as a cheerleader on the team. She earned $50 a game during her first year of college.