Paula Abdul

Paula Abdul was raised in San Fernando Valley. She began taking dance lessons at the age of eight. She attended Van Nuys High School, where she was senior class head cheerleader and president. Her graduation was in 1980, and began college at Cal State Northridge to major 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 film "Torture" it was the first in a lengthy sequence of videos and movies she choreographed. She started singing in her first album, "Forever Your Girl" which was not a huge success until her hit single "Straight Up" exploded onto the charts in December 1988 . she's been a household dancer ever since, aided by her role as judge on the cult series American Idol (2002). Her father (Harry Abdul), is Sephardic Jewish and hails from Syria. Her mother, who is also Jewish, was born in Canada. Her parents lived in Canada, Syria, Brazil and Syria. This has created a myriad of stories about her nationality and religion 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's been dancing and singing since she was seven years old, while on an excursion in America. Tap dancing was also something she took, and she was awarded a scholarship for the school of tap dancing. In the following years, she went to Cal State Northridge College where she earned a degree as a Broadcast Radio Specialist. At the time she was a candidate for the Los Angeles Lakers NBA Cheerleading team, and that resulted in her being selected as a cheerleader for the squad, earning some $50 per game during her first year of college.