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 where she was the class president and was the school's chief cheerleader. Her graduation was in 1980 and began 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. The Jacksons recruited her to choreograph the 1984 "Torture", their first of many films and videos she choreographed. After her debut album "Forever Your Girl" and her first solo album, her singing career took off. However, the song "Straight Up" was a big hit and she's been a successful dancer/singer ever after. This was helped by her appearance on American Idol (2002-2004). Her father, Harry Abdul, is Sephardic Jewish from Syria. Her mother, too Jewish was born and raised in Canada. Her parents were born in Canada, Brazil, Syria and Brazil. These diverse experiences have led to different stories in the media regarding her country of origin or religious beliefs. Born in Hollywood, California to Harry Abdul (another livestock trader in Brazil) and Lorainne Abdul (former assistant to director Billy Wilder), she grew up. Since the age of seven, she sang and danced in local musical theatre groups while traveling across America. She also took tap dancing lessons as well, in which she was awarded a scholarship to tap dancing school. She attended Cal State Northridge College, where she studied Broadcast radio. She auditioned to be an official cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers NBA Basketball Cheerleading team.