Paula Abdul

Paula Abdul grew up in the San Fernando Valley, California. When she was eight years old, she began dancing lessons. Van Nuys High School was her high school. She was also the school's head cheerleader as well as the class president. She graduated in 1980 and started the college process 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. She was enlisted by The Jacksons to choreograph their 1984 "Torture" video, the first in a long list of videos and movies she choreographed. Following her debut album "Forever Your Girl" was released, she began singing and became a popular artist and performer. Her time as an American Idol judge (2002) has helped her become an increasingly popular performer/dancer. Her father (Harry Abdul) is from a Sephardic Jewish background from Syria. Her mother, who is also Jewish was born and raised in Canada. Her parents were born in Canada, Brazil, Syria and Brazil. The diverse background has led to diverse 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. She's been singing and dancing since she was seven years old, while on the road in America. She also took tap dancing lessons and earned her a scholarship to a tap dancing school. Later in her life she attended Cal State Northridge College where she studied to become an Broadcast radio specialist. At the time she auditioned for Los Angeles Lakers NBA Cheerleading team. The audition was the reason she was offered a place as a cheerleader for the team. The team earned fifty dollars per game during her first year of college.