Paula Abdul

Paula Abdul was born in San Fernando Valley, California. She started dancing when she was eight. Van Nuys High School was her high school. She was also the cheerleader of the year and the senior class president. She graduated in 1980 and went to the college process at Cal State Northridge to major in 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. She was recruited by The Jacksons to choreograph their 1984 "Torture" video, the first of a series of films and videos she choreographed. After the release of her debut CD "Forever Your Girl" started singing, she turned to singing and was soon a well-known artist and performer. Her stint as an American Idol judge (2002) has helped her become more well-known as a performer and dancer. Her father (Harry Abdul), is Sephardic Jewish and hails from Syria. Her mother, who was also Jewish, was born in Canada. Her parents are from Canada, Brazil, Syria and Brazil. These diverse background has led to diverse stories in the media regarding her nationality or religion. The daughter is Harry Abdul, a former Brazilian livestock trader and Lorainne Abdul, who was the former assistant to Billy Wilder in film direction. At the age of seven, she sung and danced in local musical theatre groups as she traveled throughout America. Tap dancing was also a class she took, and she received a scholarship to attend tap dancing classes. She went to Cal State-Northridge College where she majored in Broadcast radio. At the time she auditioned for the Los Angeles Lakers NBA Cheerleading team. That led her to a spot as a cheerleader for the team. The team earned 50 dollars per game in her freshman year.