Paula Abdul

Paula Abdul was raised in San Fernando Valley. At age eight, she began taking dance classes. Van Nuys High School was where she was president of the senior class and the chief cheerleader. Her graduation was in 1980 and went to 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. The Jacksons hired her to choreograph their 1984 video "Torture" which was the first of a long series of movies and video she would choreograph. She began her singing career through her first album, "Forever Your Girl" that had a lackluster success until her hit single "Straight Up" exploded onto the charts in December of 1988. she's been a household dancer ever since, aided by her stint as a judge on the hit show American Idol (2002). Her father (Harry Abdul) is from a Sephardic Jewish background from Syria. Her mother, who is also Jewish was born in Canada. Her parents were born in Canada, Brazil, Syria and Brazil. The diverse backgrounds have resulted in divergent stories in the news about her ethnicity or religion. She is the daughter of Harry Abdul, a former Brazilian livestock trader, and Lorainne Abdul, who was a former assistant to Billy Wilder in film direction. At the age of seven, she sang and danced in local musical theatre ensembles as she traveled all over America. Tap dancing was another class she attempted, and received a scholarship to attend tapping classes. In the following years, she went to Cal State Northridge College where she was a Broadcast radio specialist. She was a candidate to be an athlete for the Los Angeles Lakers NBA Basketball Cheerleading team.