Paula Abdul
Paula Abdul was raised in San Fernando Valley. At age eight, she began taking dance classes. Van Nuys High School was her high school. She was also the top cheerleader as well as the class president. Following her graduation in 1980 she enrolled in college at Cal State-Northridge, studying 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. The Jacksons hired her to choreograph their 1984 video "Torture" which was the first in a lengthy series of movies and video she would choreograph. She branched out into singing through her first album, "Forever Your Girl" which was not a huge success until the hit song "Straight Up" exploded onto the charts in December 1988 . she has been a popular dancer ever since, aided by her role as a judge on the hit show American Idol (2002). Her father, Harry Abdul, is Sephardic Jewish ...