Paula Abdul

Paula Abdul biography

Paula Julie Abdul (; born June 19, 1962) is an American singer-songwriter, dancer, choreographer, actress and television personality.

In the 1980s, Abdul rose from cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers to highly sought-after choreographer at the height of the music video era before scoring a string of pop music-R&B hits in the late-1980s and early-1990s. Her six number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 tie her for fifth among the female solo performers who have reached #1 there. She won a Grammy for "Best Music Video - Short Form" for "Opposites Attract" and twice won the "Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography".

After her initial period of success, she suffered a series of setbacks in her professional and personal life, until she found renewed fame and success in the early years of the 21st century as a judge on the television series, American Idol, for eight years, before departing from the show. Abdul had moved on to another television series, CBS's Live to Dance, which debuted in January 2011. The series has since been canceled. Following her judging role in Live to Dance, Abdul moved to the first season of American version of The X Factor with her former American Idol co-judge Simon Cowell which premiered on September 21, 2011.

Early life

Abdul was born in San Fernando, California to Jewish parents. Abdul's father, Harry Abdul, was born in Aleppo, Syria, raised in Brazil, and subsequently immigrated to the United States; her mother, Lorraine M. (née Rykiss), is originally from Minnedosa, Manitoba in Canada with ancestors from Russia and Ukraine, and Abdul derives Canadian citizenship through her. She has a sister named Wendy, who is seven years her senior. In 1980, she graduated from Van Nuys High School and was voted girl with the funniest laugh.

An avid dancer, Abdul was inspired towards a show business career by Gene Kelly in the classic film Singin' in the Rain as well as Debbie Allen, Fred Astaire, and Bob Fosse.

Abdul began taking dance lessons at an early age in ballet, Jazz, and Tap. She attended Van Nuys High School, where she was a cheerleader and an honor student. At 15, she received a scholarship to a dance camp near Palm Springs, and in 1978 appeared in a low-budget Independent musical film, ''Junior High School.

Abdul studied broadcasting at the California State University at Northridge. During her freshman year, she was selected from a pool of 700 candidates for the cheerleading squad of the Los Angeles Lakers NBA basketball team-the famed Laker Girls. Within three months, she became head choreographer. Six months later, she left the university to focus on her choreography and dancing career.

Career

1982-1986: Dance and choreography era

Abdul was discovered by The Jacksons, after a few of the band members had watched her while attending a Los Angeles Lakers game. She was signed to do the choreography for the video to their single "Torture". "My only problem was how to tell the Jacksons how to dance," Abdul later recalled. "Imagine me telling them what routines to do. I was young, I was scared. I'm not quite sure how I got through that." The success of the choreography in the video led to Abdul's career of choreographer in music videos. It was also due to the success of the video that Abdul was chosen to be the choreographer for the Jacksons' ''Victory'' tour.

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