Paula Abdul
Paula Abdul grew up in the San Fernando Valley, California. At age eight, she began learning dance. Van Nuys High School was her high school. She was also the cheerleader of the year and class president for senior year. She graduated in 1980 and began college at Cal State Northridge to major in radio and television. 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 recruited her to choreograph their 1984 film "Torture" the first of a series of films and videos she would choreograph. She branched out into singing with her first CD, "Forever Your Girl" which was not a huge success until the hit song "Straight Up" exploded onto the charts in December 1988 . Since then, she's been a household artist and singer ever since. This was made even more popular by her time as an adjudicator on the popular series American