Paula Abdul

Paula Abdul was raised in San Fernando Valley. At the age of eight old, she began dancing lessons. She attended Van Nuys High School, in which she was a senior class president and head cheerleader. She graduated from high school in 1980. After graduation, she began the college process at Cal State Northridge. There, she majored 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 hired her to choreograph their 1984 video "Torture", the first in a long series of movies and video she choreographed. Her first album "Forever Your Girl" and her first solo album, her singing career began to take off. But the hit single "Straight Up" was a major hit and she's been a successful singer/dancer ever after. This is aided by her stint on American Idol (2002-2004). Her father (Harry Abdul), is Sephardic Jewish and hails from Syria. Her mother, also Jewish, was born in Canada. Her parents were residents of Canada, Syria, Brazil and Syria. This has resulted in a variety of stories about her religion and nationality within the media. 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. From the age of seven, she sang and danced in community musical theatre ensembles as she traveled throughout America. Tap dancing was also a class she took, and she was awarded a scholarship for tap dancing school. She was a student at Cal State-Northridge College where she majored in Broadcast radio. In the course of her studies she auditioned for the Los Angeles Lakers NBA Cheerleading team. This led her to a spot as a cheerleader on the squad, earning some 50 dollars per game in her freshman year.