Paula Abdul

Paula Abdul was raised in San Fernando Valley. When she was 8 years old, old, she began dancing lessons. She was a student at Van Nuys High School, where she was the class head cheerleader and president. Her graduation was in 1980 and started the college process at Cal State Northridge to major in TV and radio. 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, the first in a lengthy list of movies and videos she would choreograph. After her debut album "Forever Your Girl", her singing career began to take off. The single "Straight Up" was a huge success and she has become a popular singer/dancer for years after. This was made possible by her time on American Idol (2002-2004). Her father, Harry Abdul, is Sephardic Jewish from Syria. Her mother is also Jewish and was born in Canada. Her parents lived in Canada, Syria, Brazil and Syria. This is the reason for a myriad of stories about her religion and nationality in the media. Born in Hollywood, California to Harry Abdul (another livestock trader in Brazil) and Lorainne Abdul (former assistant of film director Billy Wilder), she grew up. She has been singing and dancing since she was just seven years older, when she was on the road in America. She also attended tap dancing classes and was awarded a scholarship to a tap dancing school. She was a student at Cal State-Northridge College where she studied Broadcast radio. At the time, she auditioned for the Los Angeles Lakers NBA Cheerleading team. This led her to a spot as a cheerleader on the team, earning $50 a game during her first year of college.