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Paula Julie Abdul (born June 19, 1962 in San
Fernando, California) is an United States|American
dancer, choreographer, singer, and
celebrity|television personality.

==Early life==

Abdul's mother is French-Canadian; her father is
of Syrian Sephardic Jewish origin.

As a small child she watched Gene Kelly in the
classic film Singin' in the Rain (movie)|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
cheerleader|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.

==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
(band)|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 footage from the classic film Anchors Aweigh
(film)|Anchors Aweigh, with childhood inspiration
Gene Kelly.

==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): "Forever Your
Girl", "Opposites Attract", "Straight Up", "Cold
Hearted", and "The Way That You Love Me". A remix
album, Shut Up and Dance, was also released. The
video for "Opposites Attract" featured an animated
cat named MC Skat Kat. In a sign of Paula's
enormous popularity, even MC Skat Kat went on to
record his own solo album later that year, though
she did not appear on it.

Her follow-up album, Spellbound (music
album)|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 the  American
Top Ten ten hits "Rush, Rush", "Vibeology",
"Promise of a New Day", "Will U Marry Me", and
"Blowing Kisses in the Wind". The single "Rush,
Rush" surprised many fans and critics at the time
of its release, not only for its lush,
stripped-down production values and engaging
lyrics, but also because it was a ballad. Prior to
the release of "Rush, Rush", many critics had
labeled Paula Abdul as a dance artist with limited
vocal range who relied solely on choreography and
visually appealing music clips. The album
Spellbound, though it retained much of the
dance-oriented formula heard on her debut album,
included songs from "Rush, Rush" to "Alright
Tonight" that showcased her growing versatility as
an artist and vocalist. Even more interesting is
the funk-laden track "U", which was penned by
Prince (artist)|Prince. 

As Abdul's image shifted slowly from "beautiful"
to "sexy", gossip began to circulate about her
weight. At 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", camera angles were used to pinch the
screen image, and tabloids claimed this was
because of Abdul's weight. Then, in an appearance
on the MTV Video Music Awards, Abdul did a live
performance of "Vibeology" wearing a sequined
bustier/swimsuit outfit that revealed she had,
indeed, put on weight. This seemed to have a
dramatic impact on her popularity.

Abdul took a break from the business and
resurfaced in 1993 with an exercise video. In 1995
Abdul participated in an ABC television interview
with Diane Sawyer in which she discussed her
weight problem and her personal battles with
bulimia. 

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", is unique among her catalogue of songs.
Its fusion of R&B and traditional Middle Eastern
instruments with its accompanying Lawrence of
Arabia (film)|Lawrence of Arabia-inspired music
video had all the trappings of a marketable hit
single. However, the single stalled in the
American Top 30. In the follow-up to the single
"My Love Is for Real", Abdul's image became much
more sexual, and she was seen scantily clad in her
music video "Crazy Cool", riding a mechanical bull
and pouring beer over her t-shirt and breasts. The
album did not sell even remotely as well as
previous efforts, and it seemed due in great part
to her new image. Furthermore, many fans believe
the four-year hiatus between the release of the
album Spellbound and Head Over Heels may have put
a chill on her core record-buying public,
affecting the overall success of Head Over Heels. 
   



Nevertheless, the album Head Over Heels remains
her lengthiest in terms of the number of tracks.
The album also spawned three b-sides: "Didn't I
Say I Love You" (B-side to "My Love Is for Real"),
"Crazy Love", and "High School Crush". The latter
two were featured on the Japanese import album of
Head Over Heels, a highly prized and now-rare
collectible item among Paula Abdul fans.

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
(film)|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. (In particular, fans were
disgusted to see their favorite sweetheart-singer
discuss performing fellatio on a character, only
to eject the semen into a film canister as proof
of his rape crimes.) Another made-for-TV movie,
The Waiting Game (1988), was neither panned nor
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|Kylie Minogue's 2000
hit single "Light Years|Spinning Around". 

As of 2005, she is working on her next album,
entitled Paula'ticks of Love.
   
==American Idol==
In 2002, Abdul was offered the job as one of the
three primary judges for the reality TV
competition American Idol. Here, Abdul's job was
to judge the talent of a group of young amateur
singers and eventually whittle the group down to
just one performer, the "Idol" in question. Abdul,
who had seemingly emerged from obscurity, won
praise as a sympathetic and compassionate judge
(especially as paired with Simon Cowell, who was
often cruelly blunt in his appraisals of the
contestants' performances). Abdul began to
resurface at awards shows and was even given the
job of co-anchor on the television magazine
program Entertainment Tonight.

On March 24, 2005, Abdul was fined and sentenced
to two years' probation for a hit and run
(vehicular)|hit-and-run incident in Encino,
California. Abdul claims she did not notice the
brief contact between her Mercedes-Benz|Mercedes
and another vehicle as she was changing lanes. 

In November 2004, Abdul had been diagnosed with
reflex sympathetic dystrophy. Public concern rose
as her behavior became erratic on a couple of
occasions—during American Idol as well as
during an April 2005 appearance on The Tonight
Show with Jay Leno, when she appeared to be
intoxicated.

In May 2005, American Broadcasting Company|ABC's
Primetime Live reported second season Idol
contestant Corey Clark's claims and corroborating
evidence that he and Abdul had had an affair
during the season, and that she had
coaching|coached him on how to succeed in the
competition.  Abdul has dismissed Clark's claims
as lies intended to secure a book deal.  In August
2005 an official investigation by Fox Broadcasting
Company|Fox found no evidence to support Clark's
claims, and cleared Abdul to remain in her role on
the show.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Music/08/12/abdul.
idol.reut/index.html

Subsequently Abdul appeared in a Saturday Night
Live sketch to mock these allegations and also to
poke fun at some of her own mannerisms such as her
no-fingers-touching clapping|hand clap. 

Abdul was married to Emilio Estevez from 1992 to
1994.
She then married clothing manufacturer Brad
Beckerman (1996, 2002; presently filed for
divorce).

==Discography==
===Albums===
* Forever Your Girl (1988) Sold 12 million copies
worldwide.
* Shut Up and Dance (1990) Sold 2 million copies
worldwide.
* Spellbound (music album)|Spellbound (1991) Sold
6 million copies worldwide.
* Head Over Heels (Paula Abdul album)|Head Over
Heels (1995) Sold 2 million copies worldwide.
* Paula Abdul: Greatest Hits (2000) Sold 0.5
million copies worldwide.

===Singles===
Billboard Hot 100 and Hot Dance Music/Club Play |
US dance chart placings:
* 1988 "Knocked Out" (Hot 100 #41, Dance #14)
* 1988 "(It's Just) The Way That You Love Me" (Hot
100 #88, Dance #18)
* 1988 "Straight Up" (Hot 100 #1, Dance #3)
* 1989 "Forever Your Girl" (Hot 100 #1, Dance #28)
* 1989 "Cold Hearted" (Hot 100 #1, Dance #19)
* 1989 "(It's Just) The Way That You Love Me"
(re-release) (Hot 100 #3)
* 1989 "Opposites Attract" (with The Wild Pair)
(Hot 100 #1, Dance #24)
* 1991 "Rush Rush" (Hot 100 #1)
* 1991 "The Promise Of a New Day" (Hot 100 #1)
* 1992 "Blowing Kisses In the Wind" (Hot 100 #6)
* 1992 "Vibeology" (Hot 100 #16, Dance #17)
* 1992 "Will You Marry Me?" (Hot 100 #19)
* 1995 "My Love Is For Real" (Hot 100 #28, Dance
#1)
* 1995 "Crazy Cool" (Hot 100 #58, Dance #13)

==See also==
*List of best-selling music artists
*List of number-one hits (United States)
*List of artists who reached number one on the Hot
100 (US)
*List of Number 1 Dance Hits (United States)
*List of artists who reached number one on the US
Dance chart

==External links==
* http://www.paulaabdul.com Official website
* http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000716/ IMDB entry
* http://www.undermyspell.com/ The Paula Abdul
Page – fan site