Paula Abdul

Paula Abdul was born in San Fernando Valley, California. At eight, she started learning dance. She was a student at Van Nuys High School, in which she was a senior class head cheerleader and president. After graduation in 1980, she entered college at Cal State-Northridge with a 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" which was the first in a long line of movies and videos she choreographed. The first album she released was "Forever Your Girl" Her singing career took off. However, the single "Straight Up" was a big hit and she's been a wildly successful performer/singer ever after. It was made easier by her appearance 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 are from Canada, Brazil, Syria and Brazil. The diverse background has led to different stories in the media regarding her religion or nationality. The daughter of Harry Abdul (once a livestock trader in Brazil) and Lorainne Abdul (former assistant to director Billy Wilder), grew up in Hollywood, California. As young as seven she danced and sang in musical theatre companies which traveled across America. Tap dance classes were taken also, and she received a scholarship at a tap dancing classes. In the future, she attended Cal State-Northridge College, where she studied in Broadcast radio. In the course of her studies, she auditioned for the Los Angeles Lakers NBA Cheerleading team. That resulted in her being selected as a cheerleader for the team, earning fifty dollars per game during her freshman year.