Paula Abdul

Paula Abdul was raised in San Fernando Valley. At the age of eight young, she started dancing lessons. Van Nuys High School was her high school. She was also the top cheerleader as well as the class president. Her high school graduation was in 1980. After graduation she enrolled in college at Cal State Northridge. There she was a radio and television major. 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. The Lakers enlisted The Jacksons to choreograph their 1984 "Torture" video, the first in a long list of videos and movies she choreographed. After the release of her debut CD "Forever Your Girl" she began to sing and became a popular performer and dancer. The stint she held as an American Idol judge (2002) has helped her become a popular performer/dancer. 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 background has resulted in wildly different stories in the press about her country of origin and/or her religion. The daughter of Harry Abdul (once a livestock trader in Brazil) and Lorainne Abdul (former assistant to film director Billy Wilder), grew in Hollywood, California. At the age of seven, she sung and danced with community musical theatre groups while traveling throughout America. She took tap dance lessons too, which is how she was awarded a scholarship to tap dancing school. Later on in life she attended Cal State Northridge College, where she studied in Broadcast radio. She auditioned for the Los Angeles Lakers NBA cheerleading team. It led to her earning $50 per game her freshman year.