Paula Abdul

Paula Abdul was raised in San Fernando Valley. When she was 8 years old, young, she started dancing lessons. Van Nuys High School was where she was the class president and the chief cheerleader. She graduated from high school in 1980. Following graduation she started the college process at Cal State Northridge. There she majored 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 approached by The Jacksons to choreograph their 1984 "Torture" video, which was the first in a long list of videos and movies she would choreograph. With her first CD "Forever Your Girl", her singing career began to take off. However, the single "Straight Up" was a massive success and she has been a successful dancer/singer ever after. This is aided by her time on American Idol (2002-2004). Her father, Harry Abdul, is Sephardic Jewish from Syria. Her mother, who is also Jewish, was born in Canada. Her parents have been in Syria, Brazil, and Canada and this diverse backgrounds have led to different stories in the press about her ethnicity or religion. She is the daughter of Harry Abdul, a former Brazilian livestock trader, and Lorainne Abdul, a former assistant to Billy Wilder in film direction. She has been singing and dancing since she was just seven years young, during an excursion in America. She also took tap dancing lessons also, and she received a scholarship to tap dancing classes. Later on in her life, she went to Cal State Northridge College where she majored as a Broadcast Radio Specialist. During that time she was a candidate for the Los Angeles Lakers NBA Cheerleading team. This was the reason she was offered a place as a cheerleader for the squad, earning some $50 per game during her first year of college.