Paula Julie Abdul (born June 19, 1962 in San Fernando, California) is an American dancer, choreographer, singer, and television personality whose reported measurements are 34B-23-36.
Paula Abdul: Early Life
Abdul's mother is Canadian-born and Jewish; her father is of Syrian Sephardic Jewish origin.
As a small child she watched Gene Kelly in the classic film Singin' in the Rain and decided she wanted to be a dancer. She began dance lessons around the age of eight and showed a natural talent for it. She attended Van Nuys High School where she was on the cheerleading squad, played flute in the band, and was an honor student.
Abdul enrolled at California State University at Northridge to study broadcasting but dropped out once her choreography career took off.
Paula Abdul: Dancing and Choreography
Abdul began her career as the head cheerleader and choreographer for the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team.
She started choreographing the live tour for The Jacksons, and got her big break as the choreographer for the 1980s videos of singer Janet Jackson. She also choreographed music videos for Duran Duran, Prince, The Jacksons, Jermaine Jackson, Kool & the Gang, the Pointer Sisters, Steve Winwood, Luther Vandross, INXS, Deborah Gibson (known as Debbie Gibson during that time), ZZ Top, George Michael and Dolly Parton. She choreographed and appeared in Toto's 1986 music video for "Till The End" and appeared in Michael Jackson's music video "Liberian Girl".
Abdul choreographed the stage shows for Suzanne Somers and Toni Basil.
In film, Abdul choreographed the dance sequences in the films Coming to America and American Beauty, as well as Cuba Gooding Jr.'s touchdown celebration in Jerry Maguire.
Abdul received two Emmy Awards for "Outstanding Achievement in Choreography": in 1989 for her work on The Tracey Ullman Show and in 1990 for The 17th Annual American Music Awards.
In a 1990 commercial for Diet Coke, Abdul danced, via editing with footage from the classic film Anchors Aweigh, with childhood inspiration Gene Kelly.
Paula Abdul: Singing
In 1988, she released her debut album Forever Your Girl and, after a fairly long time, became a smash hit star. The album spawned five American Top Five singles (out of just ten songs): "Straight Up", "Forever Your Girl", "Cold Hearted", "(It's Just) The Way That You Love Me", and "Opposites Attract". A remix album, Shut Up and Dance, was also released and reached #7 on Billboard's album chart. The video for "Opposites Attract" featured an animated cat named MC Skat Kat. As a sign of Paula's enormous popularity, the cartoon cat ended up with his own record deal later that year. Abdul's voice was sampled on one track and she appeared in the video for the first single.
Her follow-up album, 1991's Spellbound, is often overlooked in musical history. Abdul made such an impact in late-1980s music that when her second effort was released in the early 1990s, everyone assumed it would be less successful. Instead, it unleashed another string of top-ten hits "Rush, Rush" (which topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for five consecutive weeks, thanks to its George Lucas-directed video, and Rebel Without a Cause premise featuring Keanu Reeves in the James Dean role), "The Promise of a New Day", "Blowing Kisses in the Wind", "Vibeology", and "Will You Marry Me?". The first single "Rush, Rush", was a ballad, which surprised many as singers generally release an up-tempo song as a first single. The album Spellbound retained much of the dance-oriented formula heard on her debut album. The track "U" was written for Paula by Prince.
As Abdul's image shifted slowly from "beautiful" to "sexy", gossip began to circulate about her weight. At a height of only 5 ft 2 in (157 cm), Abdul did not have the height commonly associated with dancers and choreographers. In her music video for "Promise of a New Day", a visual effect was used which stretched images vertically on the screen. Tabloids claimed this was to make Abdul appear taller and thinner. Then, in an appearance on the MTV Video Music Awards, Abdul did a live performance of "Vibeology" wearing a sequined one-piece bustier outfit, revealing that Abdul had indeed put on weight. Morning radio hosts were merciless the following day. In 1995, Abdul appeared in an ABC television interview with Diane Sawyer in which she discussed her past weight problem and revealed that she'd been in recovery from a lifelong battle with bulimia.
Spellbound was successful but didn't sell nearly as many copies as the Abdul's debut album. Abdul took a break from recording and resurfaced in 1993 with an exercise video.
In 1995 Abdul released her fourth album, Head Over Heels. With modest radio hits with the singles "My Love Is for Real", "Crazy Cool", and "Ain't Never Gonna Give You Up", she showed that she was still able to create popular music while moving with the times. The first single off the album, "My Love Is for Real", featured a fusion of R&B and traditional Middle Eastern instruments. It's accompanying Lawrence of Arabia inspired music video had was played in theaters across the world as a preface to the film Clueless. It was a hit in dance clubs (peaking at #1 on Billboard's Club Play chart) but the single stalled at #28 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. The second single, "Crazy Cool", was accompanied by a music video wherein Abdul is seen riding a mechanical bull and pouring beer over her breasts. The album did not sell nearly as well as previous two.
Abdul had never had a real career as an actress, barring an appearance as Sherri in a low-budget musical movie from 1978 called Junior High School. In an attempt to revitalize her career as a performer, she began accepting acting roles, starting with the television movie Touched by Evil in 1997. In a genre that is hardly well respected to begin with, her performance (as a rape victim who discovers her boyfriend was her rapist) was rejected by both fans and critics. Another made-for-TV movie, The Waiting Game (1988), was neither panned or praised.
In the year 2000, the CD Greatest Hits was released. It featured an array of hit singles from all three of Abdul's previous albums, as well as other noteworthy tracks. The song "Bend Time Back Round", included on the CD, had only been heard previously on the 1993 soundtrack of the hit television series Beverly Hills 90210.
Abdul co-wrote Kylie Minogue's 2000 hit single "Spinning Around".
As of 2005, she is working with fellow American Idol judge Randy Jackson to produce a new album of dance material. It has been rumored that the album's working title is Paula'ticks of Love.
Paula Abdul: American Idol
In 2002, Abdul accepted a job as one of three judges for the reality TV competition American Idol. Abdul's job was to evaluate the talent of a large group of young amateur singers, eliminate most of them in various audition rounds, and then help American television viewers whittle the remaining ones down to just one performer: the aforementioned idol. Abdul, who had seemingly emerged from obscurity, won praise as a sympathetic and compassionate judge. She seemed especially so when her critiques were compared with that of fellow judge Simon Cowell, who was often cruelly blunt in his appraisals of the contestants' performances. When she realized that Cowell's over-the-top judging style was heartbreaking for some young contestants, Abdul was so horrified, she considered leaving the show. Although their differences often resulted in extremely heated on-air exchanges, Cowell says he played a major role in convincing Abdul not to walk off. Now a bonafide television celebrity, Abdul accepted a second gig as reporter for Entertainment Tonight.
On March 24, 2005, Abdul pleaded no contest and was fined and sentenced to two years' probation for a hit-and-run incident in Encino, California. Abdul claims she did not notice the brief contact between her Mercedes and another vehicle as she was changing lanes.
During 2004, public concern for Abdul began growing as a result of some apparently erratic behavior during episodes of American Idol. When rumors of drug or alcohol abuse began to swirl, Abdul went to People magazine to explain that she had been diagnosed with reflex sympathetic dystrophy and was undergoing successful treatment.
In May 2005, ABC's Primetime Live reported season-two Idol contestant Corey Clark's claims that he and Abdul had had an affair during that season, and that she had coached him on how to succeed in the competition. Perhaps not surprisingly, Clark was coming forward at a time when he was marketing a CD and trying to get a book deal. For the most part, Abdul refused to dignify Clark's allegations with a response. At the height of the debacle, Abdul appeared in a Saturday Night Live skit, making light of the situation.
While Fox launched an investigation, Abdul received numerous calls of support from celebrities including Oprah Winfrey...and Barbara Walters even looked into the camera during an episode of ABC's The View to say she was ashamed to be part of an operation that would report Clark's flimsy tabloid claims under the guise of a news story.
In August 2005 the Fox network announced the results of their investigation. They had hired three three impartial law firms who conducted over 40 hours of interviews (including interviews with Abdul and Clark) but no evidence was found to substantiate any of Clark's claims. With Abdul's good name cleared, the network confirmed that she would be returning for season five.
In September 2005 Abdul's revealing dress at the Emmy Awards got her a spot on some worst-dressed lists.
Abdul was married to Emilio Estevez from 1992 to 1994. In 1996, she married clothing manufacturer Brad Beckerman, but she later divorced him as well. She's currently dating model Dante Spencer.
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