1987–1999: Forever Your Girl, Spellbound and Head over HeelsĪbdul at the 42nd Primetime Emmy Awards, 1990 Abdul also choreographed sequences for the giant keyboard scene involving Tom Hanks's character in Big (1988). 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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Abdul recalled feeling intimidated by having to tell the Jacksons how to dance, stating that she was "not quite sure how got through that." The success of the choreography in the video led to Abdul's career as choreographer of music videos, notably Janet Jackson's " What Have You Done for Me Lately", " Nasty" and " Control" videos. She was signed to do the choreography for the video to their single " Torture". Career 1982–1986: Career beginningsĪbdul was discovered by The Jacksons, after a few of the band members had watched her while attending a Los Angeles Lakers game. Within a year, she became head choreographer. 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. Abdul studied broadcasting at the California State University, Northridge. In 1980, she graduated from Van Nuys High School. 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. She attended Van Nuys High School, where she was a cheerleader and an honor student. Ībdul began taking dance lessons at an early age in ballet, jazz, and tap. As an avid dancer, Abdul was inspired towards a show business career by Gene Kelly in the film Singin' in the Rain. Her mother, Lorraine, was a concert pianist who grew up in one of the two Canadian-Jewish families in Minnedosa, Manitoba and has ancestors from Ukraine. Abdul's father, Harry Abdul, is of Syrian Jewish heritage and was born in Aleppo, Syria, raised in Brazil and emigrated to the United States. 2.5 2016–present: Return to performing, Las Vegas residencyĪbdul was born in San Fernando, California, to Jewish parents.2.4 2010–2015: Live to Dance, The X Factor and So You Think You Can Dance.2.3 2000–2009: American Idol, Hey Paula and return to music.
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Ībdul was one of the original judges on the television series American Idol from 2002 to 2009, and has since appeared as a judge on The X Factor, Live to Dance, So You Think You Can Dance, and The Masked Dancer. Her six number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 tie her with Ariana Grande and Diana Ross for seventh among the female solo performers who have topped the chart. Her second album Spellbound (1991) scored her two more Billboard Hot 100 chart toppers: " Rush Rush" and " The Promise of a New Day". Her debut studio album Forever Your Girl (1988) became one of the most successful debut albums at that time, selling seven million copies in the United States and setting a record for the most number-one singles from a debut album on the Billboard Hot 100 chart: " Straight Up", " Forever Your Girl", " Cold Hearted", and " Opposites Attract".
After choreographing music videos for Janet Jackson, Abdul became a choreographer at the height of the music video era and soon thereafter she was signed to Virgin Records. She began her career as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers at the age of 18 and later became the head choreographer for the Laker Girls, where she was discovered by The Jacksons. Paula Julie Abdul (born ( )June 19, 1962) is an American singer, dancer, choreographer, actress, and television personality.