Paula Abdul

Paula Abdul was born in San Fernando Valley, California. She started dancing when she was eight. She was a student at Van Nuys High School, where she was the senior class president and head cheerleader. She graduated from high school in the year 1980. After graduation she entered the college process at Cal State Northridge. There she studied 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 hired her to choreograph their 1984 video "Torture", the first of a long line of movies and videos she choreographed. After the release of her debut CD "Forever Your Girl" she began to sing and soon became a well-known singer/dancer. Her time as an American Idol judge (2002) has made her a more popular performer/dancer. Her father (Harry Abdul), is Sephardic Jewish and hails from Syria. Her mother, also Jewish, was born and raised in Canada. Her parents have lived in Syria, Brazil, and Canada and this diverse backgrounds have led to numerous stories being reported in the media about her ethnicity or religion. Born in Hollywood, California to Harry Abdul (another livestock trader from Brazil) & Lorainne Abdul (former assistant to film director Billy Wilder), she began her life. From the age of seven she danced and sang in musical theatre groups which toured across America. Tap dancing was another class she tried, and she received a scholarship to attend tapping classes. She went to Cal State-Northridge College where she majored in Broadcast radio. During that time, she auditioned for the Los Angeles Lakers NBA Cheerleading team. The audition was the reason she was offered a place as a cheerleader on the team. She earned $50 a game during her first year of college.