Paula Abdul

Paula Abdul grew up in the San Fernando Valley, California. She began dancing at the age of eight. She attended Van Nuys High School, where she was the senior class head cheerleader and president. She graduated from high school in the year 1980. After graduation she enrolled in college at Cal State Northridge. There she was a radio and television major. 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" that was the first in a long line of movies and videos she would choreograph. After her debut CD "Forever Your Girl", she began singing and became a popular singer/dancer. The time she spent as an American Idol judge (2002) has made her a more popular performer/dancer. Her father, Harry Abdul, is Sephardic Jewish from Syria. Her mother is also Jewish and was born in Canada. Her parents lived in Canada, Syria, Brazil and Syria. This has created a myriad of stories about her faith and nationality in the media. Born in Hollywood, California to Harry Abdul (another livestock trader in Brazil) and Lorainne Abdul (former assistant to film director Billy Wilder), she grew up. She has been dancing and singing since she was just seven years older, when she was on an excursion in America. She also took tap dancing classes that earned her an award to attend a tap dancing school. Later in her life, she attended Cal State-Northridge College where she earned a degree in Broadcast radio. In the course of her studies she was a candidate for the Los Angeles Lakers NBA Cheerleading team. This led her to a spot as a cheerleader on the team. The team earned $50 a game during her freshman year.