Paula Julie Abdul (pronounced /ˈæbduːl/, born June 19, 1962) is an American pop singer, record producer, dancer, choreographer, actress and television personality.
In the 1980s, Abdul rose from being a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers to being a sought-after choreographer at the height of the music video era, then to being a Pop-R&B singer with a string of hits in the late-1980s and early-1990s. She has scored six number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, placing her in a tie for fifth among the female solo performers who have reached #1 there. She won a Grammy for "Best Music Video - Short Form" for "Opposites Attract" and twice won the "Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography".
After her initial period of success, she suffered a series of setbacks in her professional and personal life, until she found renewed fame and success in the 2000s as a judge on the television series, American Idol. Abdul was most recently featured in the eighth season of American Idol. Abdul was working on a new album and had hoped to have the album released by the end of 2009, but nothing came of it. Abdul has a mezzo-soprano vocal range.
Abdul's career as a judge in American Idol is referenced, parodied, and lampooned in the 2003 Warner Bros. live action/animated film, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, notably the Warner Bros. Studios Commissary scene, in which she made a cameo appearance as herself, clad in her American Idol judge uniform whilst having lunch with an angry and humiliated MC Skat Kat and Yakety Yak, who both criticize her newfound career as a judge in American Idol. According to the comical scene, when Skat Kat asks Abdul what kind of musical performances she calls them in American Idol, referring to the show itself as "that stupid song and dance competition TV show", he tells her that she not only might have made him wear down, but she also might have made him feel down in the dumps like Yakety, as he shows her his said yak friend and associate, who is thinking up ways to do something about Abdul, and her newfound career. Abdul apologizes to Skat Kat that she is sorry he feels that way, and at that, she then tells him that she is trying to do some work as a judge in American Idol, referring to the said show as "the "American Idol" TV show". Skat Kat then threatens Abdul that if she doesn't return to the world of singing and dancing in the future music videos with him, along with her days of "music video show business", even if she doesn't sing and dance with him, he is going to scratch her in the face (a pun on slapping someone in the face with one's hand) when he'll never forgive himself, as he shows off his claws and demonstrates his scratching abilities, causing her to jump back a little bit in the process, to which Yakety has an idea, and then threatens Abdul that he is going to headbutt her in the rear end with his horns (a pun on kicking someone in the rear end to the curb with one's foot), if she doesn't "take her new career back". He then angrily raps and recites one line from the Yakety Yak, Take it Back music video (and his signature catchphrase), "Yakety Yak, Take it Back!", at Abdul, and finally bellows like a yak and snorts a gust of air through his nostrils out of anger in her face, as Skat Kat looks at the audience with a disturbed look on his face. The camera then pans right over to Kate Houghton (played by Jenna Elfman) and Bugs Bunny having lunch together, as they both discuss about Bugs's would-be popularity without Daffy Duck's assistance.
She left the American Idol judge panel after season 8 due to a contract dispute. However, rumors have been going around saying that she may not have left American Idol, and might return before the ninth season begins, but that didn't happen. There were also rumors that she was going to be a judge on the American version of Simon Cowell's popular British talent show The X-Factor. None of that turned out not to be true at the time because she was busy debuting a new show, Live to Dance, which she would host and serve as executive producer. Live to Dance debuted on CBS in January 2011 but ended up cancelled due to low ratings.
Abdul reunited with Simon Cowell on the American version of his hit British talent show The X-Factor, but that reunion was short-lived as Abdul, along with pop singer Nicole Scherzinger and host Steve Jones, was fired in January 2012 after the show's first season ended.
Abdul is now a judge on the FOX dance competition show So You Think You Can Dance. She had previously been a judge on the Australian version of the show.
Abdul returned for Season 19 on April 12, filling in for Luke Bryan.
Background[]
Paula Abdul was born in the San Fernando Valley, to Harry Abdul, a former livestock trader and owner of a sand and gravel business, and Lorraine Rykiss, a concert pianist who once worked as film director Billy Wilder's assistant. Her father, a Syrian Jew, was born in Syria, raised in Brazil, and subsequently immigrated to the United States. Abdul's mother is also Jewish and originally from Saint Boniface (now part of Winnipeg), Manitoba, Canada.
Abdul and her sister, Wendy, grew up with their mother in the San Fernando Valley. An avid dancer, Abdul was inspired towards a show business career by Gene Kelly in the classic film Singin' in the Rain as well as Debbie Allen, Fred Astaire, and Bob Fosse.
Abdul began taking dance lessons at the age of eight and showed a natural talent. She attended Van Nuys High School, where she was a cheerleader and an honor student. 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.
Abdul studied broadcasting at California State University, Northridge. During her first year, she was selected from a pool of 700 candidates for the cheerleading squad of the Los Angeles Lakers — the famed Laker Girls. Within three months, she became head choreographer. Six months later, she left college to focus on her choreography career.
Official Account[]
- Paula Abdul Facebook
- Paula Abdul Instagram
- Paula Abdul Twitter
- Paula Abdul on Insstar.com
- Paula Abdul on Insstars.com
- Paula Abdul on Instagweb.com
- Paula Abdul on Buzzcent.com