In recent years Paula Abdul has been portrayed by the media as a scatter-brained judge on American Idol, which she recently left. But her launch to fame was anything but unfocused. She was born on June 19, 1962 in Los Angeles and while singing never played a big part in her youth, dancing did. She took dance lessons at an early age and was a cheerleader at Van Nuys High School. During her freshman year at California State University at Northridge she made the cheerleading squad for the Los Angeles Lakers. This next part is important and the reason why you need to move to Los Angeles if you want your kid to have a career in entertainment. After three months with the squad she became the head choreographer and was discovered by the Jacksons (as in the Jackson 5) at a game. She was hired to choreograph their “Torture” video and then their tour. She went on to choreograph videos for many artists including Janet Jackson. Abdul used her savings to cut a demo and while her voice didn’t compare to Whitney Houston, her dancing ability was what sold her. Forever Your Girl debuted in 1988 and eventually spent 10 weeks on top the Billboard 200 album chart. The lesson here to teach your children? Even if you’re not good at every aspect of performing you can still break in to the business by being great at one part of it, or at the very least, maybe meet the Jacksons at a basketball game.
