Who is Paula Julie Abdul? The entertainment and acting world knows Paula Abdul as an American
recording artist, dancer,
choreographer, actress and television personality.
In the 1980s, Abdul rose from
cheerleader for the
Los Angeles Lakers to highly sought-after choreographer at the height of the
music video era before scoring a string of pop music-
R&B hits in the late-1980s and early-1990s. Her six number one singles on the
Billboard Hot 100 tie her for fifth among the female solo performers who have reached #1 there.
[3] She won a Grammy for "Best Music Video - Short Form" for "
Opposites Attract" and twice won the "
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography".
 |
| American Idol |
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, for eight years, before departing from the show. Abdul had moved on to another television series,
CBS's
Live to Dance, which debuted in January 2011. The series has since been canceled. Following her judging role in
Live to Dance, Abdul moved to the
American version of
The X Factor with her former
American Idol co-judge
Simon Cowell which will premiere in September 2011.
[4] She is said to be working on a new album.
[5][6]
Early life
Abdul's father, a
Syrian Jew, was born in
Aleppo, Syria, raised in Brazil, and subsequently emigrated to the United States;
[7] Abdul's mother, a Canadian Jew, is originally from
Minnedosa, Manitoba, with ancestors from Russia and Ukraine,
[8][9] and Abdul derives Canadian citizenship through her. She was June 19, 1962 she has a sister named Wendy, who is 7 years her senior. In 1980, she graduated from Van Nuys High School and was voted girl with the funniest laugh.
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.
[10]
Abdul began taking dance lessons at an early age in ballet, Jazz, and Tap. 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 the
California State University at Northridge. During her freshman year, she was selected from a pool of 700 candidates for the cheerleading squad of the
Los Angeles Lakers NBA basketball team—the famed
Laker Girls. Within three months, she became head choreographer. Six months later, she left the university to focus on her choreography and dancing career.
Career
1982-1986: Dance and choreography era
Abdul was discovered by
The Jacksons, after a few of the band members had watched her while attending a Los Angeles Lakers game.
[11] She was signed to do the choreography for the video to their single "
Torture".
[12] "My only problem was how to tell the Jacksons how to dance," Abdul later recalled. "Imagine me telling them what routines to do. I was young, I was scared. I'm not quite sure how I got through that."
[13] The success of the choreography in the video led to Abdul's career of choreographer in music videos.
[14] It was also due to the success of the video that Abdul was chosen to be the choreographer for the Jacksons'
Victory tour.
[14]
Abdul choreographed videos for several singers throughout the 1980s, including many videos for
Janet Jackson during her
Control era. In 1995, Abdul released a dance workout video entitled
Paula Abdul's Get Up and Dance! (re-released on DVD in 2003), a fast-paced, hip-hop style workout. In 1998, she released a second video called
Cardio Dance (re-released on DVD in 2000). In December 2005, Abdul launched a cheerleading/fitness/dance DVD series called
Cardio Cheer, which is marketed to children and teenage girls involved with cheerleading and dance.
In film, Abdul choreographed sequences for the giant keyboard scene involving
Tom Hanks’s character in
Big. Further credits include
Coming to America,
Action Jackson,
Jerry Maguire, The Running Man, American Beauty (1999 film), Can't Buy Me Love (film), and
Oliver Stone's,
The Doors.[15] Television credits include
The Tracey Ullman Show, American Music Awards, the
Academy Awards, and several commercials, such as The King's touchdown celebration, as seen in a string of popular
Burger King television commercials that aired during the 2005–2006 NFL season.
[15]
1987-1994: Forever Your Girl and Spellbound
In 1987, Abdul used her savings to make a singing demo. Although her voice was relatively untrained, her exceptional dancing proved marketable to the visually-oriented,
MTV-driven, pop music industry. She was a tireless worker, and relied on input from her vocal coach and producers to improve her sound.
In 1988, Abdul released her pop debut album,
Forever Your Girl. The album took 62 weeks to hit #1 on the
Billboard 200 album sales chart—the longest an album has been on the market before hitting #1—and spent 10 weeks there.
[citation needed] The album eventually became
multi-platinum in the spring and summer of 1989, and it spawned five American Top Three singles, four of them #1s (three in 1989 and one in 1990): "
Straight Up," "
Forever Your Girl," "
Cold Hearted," and "
Opposites Attract." A remix album,
Shut Up and Dance, was also released and reached #7 on Billboard's album chart, becoming one of the most successful remix albums to date. The Grammy award-winning video for "
Opposites Attract" featured an animated cat named
MC Skat Kat.
At the
33rd Grammy Awards, Abdul won her first Grammy for Best Music Video for
Opposites Attract,
[16] She was also nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance For her song
Straight Up but it lost to
Bonnie Raitt's
Nick Of Time.
[16]
In the early 1990s, Yvette Marine, backing vocalist on
Forever Your Girl, claimed that she sang "co-lead vocals" on the album and sued Paula and Virgin Records for compensation. After one month of court proceedings, Abdul and Virgin won the case.
[17]
Abdul's follow-up album, 1991's
Spellbound, contained another string of hits, and sold 7 million copies worldwide.
[citation needed] The first single from
Spellbound was the ballad, "
Rush, Rush," which topped the
Billboard Hot 100 chart for five consecutive weeks, and was noted for its
music video and
Rebel Without a Cause motif featuring
Keanu Reeves in the
James Dean role. "
Promise of a New Day," the second release from the album, also hit No. 1, and was followed by the Top 10 hit "
Blowing Kisses in the Wind" and two Top 20 hits: "
Vibeology" and "
Will You Marry Me?."
[18] The album,
Spellbound, retained much of the dance-oriented formula heard on her debut album. The track "U" was written for Paula by
Prince.
Abdul promoted the album through the "
Under My Spell Tour," which was named by an MTV contest for fans. This tour was nearly cancelled due to an accident during rehearsals.
The tour began on schedule and ran from October 1991 to the summer of 1992. In 1991, Abdul embraced advertising and starred in a popular
Diet Coke commercial in which she danced with a digital image of her idol, a young
Gene Kelly.
1995-2001: Head over Heels and a music hiatus
By 1995, Paula Abdul had recovered from her battle with the eating disorder
bulimia nervosa and prepared to return to the spotlight with her new album
Head over Heels.
The first single off the album, "
My Love Is for Real" featured a fusion of
R&B and traditional
Middle Eastern instruments, and was performed with Yemeni-Israeli singer
Ofra Haza. Its accompanying
Lawrence of Arabia-inspired music video was played in theaters across the world as a preface to the film
Clueless. The single was a hit in the clubs (peaking at #1 on Billboard's
Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart), and made it to #28 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart.
The second single, "
Crazy Cool," peaked at #13 on the dance charts. "
Ain't Never Gonna Give You Up" was the album's third and final single. To date,
Head over Heels has sold 3 million copies worldwide.
In January 1997, Abdul starred in the ABC television movie
Touched by Evil,[19] playing a businesswoman who discovers that her boyfriend is a serial rapist.
[20] Also that year, Abdul co-wrote the song "
Spinning Around" with songwriter and producer
Kara DioGuardi, who became a fellow judge on
American Idol in 2009. "Spinning Around" was a dance-pop track intended to be the lead single on Abdul's follow-up album to
Head over Heels. But the album never materialized, and "Spinning Around" was instead given to
Kylie Minogue. The song was highly successful, reaching #1 in numerous countries.
While Abdul took a break from the music industry, she remained busy behind the scenes. Abdul served as the choreographer for several film and theater productions, including the 1998 musical
Reefer Madness and the cheerleading scenes in the 1999 film
American Beauty (she had previously also choreographed the 1991 film
The Doors). Abdul also co-produced a 2001
pilot episode of
Skirts, a dramatic series that would have aired on
MTV about a high-school cheerleading squad; Abdul was also set to appear as the head coach. The pilot never aired.
[21]
In 2000, Abdul’s
Paula Abdul: Greatest Hits CD was released by
Virgin Records (with whom Abdul was already no longer affiliated). It included all her hit singles and other noteworthy tracks. The song "Bend Time Back 'Round" had previously been heard only on the 1992 soundtrack for the hit television series
Beverly Hills, 90210.
2002-2009: American Idol
In 2002, Abdul appeared as one of three judges for the
reality television music competition show
American Idol. Abdul, along with fellow judges
Simon Cowell and
Randy Jackson (joined by
Kara DioGuardi in 2009) were to evaluate the talent of a large group of young amateur singers, eliminate most of them in various audition rounds, and then judge the finalists as American television viewers voted on which finalists would continue to each successive round, until all but the winner were eliminated. Abdul won praise as a sympathetic and compassionate judge. She seemed especially kind compared to fellow judge Simon Cowell, who was often blunt in his appraisals of the contestants' performances. When she realized that Cowell's over-the-top judging style was heartbreaking for many young contestants, Abdul was so horrified that she considered leaving the show. Although their differences often resulted in extremely heated on-air exchanges and confrontations, Cowell says he played a major role in convincing Abdul not to leave the show.
[22]
While serving as a judge on "American Idol," Abdul accepted a second assignment as reporter for
Entertainment Tonight.
In March 2006, Fox announced that Abdul had signed to stay on
American Idol as a judge for at least three more years. Later that year, fellow
American Idol judge Simon Cowell invited her to be a guest judge at some of the early auditions for the third series of his similar UK talent show
The X Factor. Abdul was present at the initial audition of the eventual winner,
Leona Lewis.
The week of May 14 to May 18, 2007 (the week before the season 6 finale), Abdul broke her nose when she tried to "avoid tripping over her pet chihuahua."
She was present at the May 22 performance and the May 23 finale.
Abdul's
American Idol wardrobe often includes a number of necklaces, rings, bracelets, and earrings that she designs, and she often gives show contestants custom-designed jewelry.
In 2007, Paula Abdul Jewelry launched its nationwide consumer debut on
QVC, with the tagline "fashion jewelry designed with heart and soul."
[23] Paula's first QVC appearance resulted in 15 sellouts of her first jewelry collection involving more than 34,000 pieces.
[24] In an interview with the
Los Angeles Times on July 18, 2009, Paula's manager
David Sonenberg told the newspaper that, "Very sadly, it does not appear that she’s going to be back on ‘Idol’."
[25] This came about as a result of stalled negotiations between Paula and the show. On August 4, 2009, after numerous contract negotiations, Abdul confirmed that she would not be returning to
Idol for its ninth season.
[26] The Times cited reports Abdul had been earning as much as
$5 million per season and that she was reportedly seeking as much as $20 million to return.
[27]
On August 18, 2009, it was reported that Abdul was negotiating to return to
Idol after not taking part in season nine of
Dancing with the Stars.
[28] Two days later, Abdul's manager said that there were not any talks with Fox, but they were not ruling anything out.
[29]
Abdul claimed her departure from
Idol was not about money, but that she had to stand on principle.
[30]
On September 9, 2009
Ellen DeGeneres was confirmed as Abdul's successor for
Idol.
[31]
2007-2011: Post-Idol projects
Paula Abdul's second greatest-hits CD,
Greatest Hits: Straight Up!, was released by
Virgin Records on May 8, 2007.
Virgin Records also released the music videos to all six of Abdul's #1 singles to
iTunes. Meanwhile,
Bravo began airing the reality television series
Hey Paula, which followed Abdul through her day-to-day life. The series was produced by Scott Sternberg Productions and debuted on June 28, 2007.
[32] Abdul's behavior as depicted on the show was described as 'erratic' by comedian
Rosie O'Donnell[33] and decried by numerous fans and critics. The show aired for only one season.
In January 2008, Abdul returned to the music charts for the first time in nearly 13 years with the single "
Dance Like There's No Tomorrow," the
first track on the album
Randy Jackson's Music Club Vol 1. The song debuted on
On Air with Ryan Seacrest.,
[34] and Abdul performed it during the pre-game show for Super Bowl XLII.
[35] "Dance Like There's No Tomorrow" was a modest comeback hit for Abdul, peaking at #62 on the
Billboard Hot 100, #11 on iTunes and #2 on the
Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. She also made a brief guest appearance in season 3 episode 1 of the British television
Comedy-Drama Hotel Babylon, which aired in the
United Kingdom on February 19, 2008.
In January 2009, Abdul hosted "RAH!," a 90-minute cheerleading competition on MTV. "RAH!" featured five collegiate squads competing in a series of challenges with Abdul crowning one the winner.
[36] In May 2009, Abdul debuted her latest song "
I'm Just Here for the Music" (originally an unreleased song from
Kylie Minogue's ninth album
Body Language) on the
Ryan Seacrest Radio
KIIS-FM show and performed the single on the
American Idol results show. "
I'm Just Here for the Music"
reached #87 on the
Billboard Hot 100,
[37] becoming Abdul's 15th song to appear on the chart.
[38]
Paula Abdul has remained busy since leaving
American Idol. She hosted "VH1 Divas Live" in September 2009, and opened the show by performing a medley of #1 hits, including "Straight Up", "Cold Hearted", "Opposites Attract", and "Forever Your Girl." Also on the program, Paula poked fun at her
American Idol replacement Ellen DeGeneres.
In 2009 and 2010, Abdul appeared in several episodes of Lifetime Television's hit series
Drop Dead Diva, a comedy about a shallow model whose soul resurfaces in the body of a brilliant, plus-size and recently deceased attorney, Jane.
[39] On the show, Abdul played herself as "Judge Paula," a figment of Jane’s subconscious.
[39]
In November 2010, Abdul launched and co-founded AuditionBooth.com, a website that allows aspiring talents to connect with casting directors, producers, and managers.
[40]
Abdul kicked off 2011 by serving as lead judge, executive producer, creative partner, mentor and coach on
CBS' new dancing competition,
Live to Dance (formerly
Got to Dance)
[41] Abdul said that unlike
American Idol, her new show is less about "competition" and more about "celebration."
[42] After its first season of seven weekly shows, it was cancelled by CBS.
[43]
2011-present: The X Factor
On May 7, 2011, it was announced that Abdul would join Simon Cowell on the first season of the American version of
The X Factor.
[4] The judging panel will consist of Abdul, Cowell, music executive
L.A. Reid and former
Pussycat Dolls lead singer
Nicole Scherzinger. The series will premiere in September 2011.
Personal life
Marriages and relationships
 |
| Brad Beckerman |
Abdul was married to
Emilio Estevez from 1992-1994.
[44][45] Another short lived marriage for Paula Abdul was to clothing designer Brad Beckerman in 1996. They divorced in 1998 citing irreconcilable differences.
On
Valentine's Day 2006, Abdul appeared on
Dr. Phil as part of a prime time special on love and relationships. She was set up on two dates and
Phil McGraw gave her advice.In mid July 2007, Abdul announced that she had begun dating J.T. Torregiani,
[46] a restaurant owner 12 years her junior.
[47] She told
Access Hollywood: "
He is a good guy. Things are looking upwards. It's looking good right now. I wasn't even looking for someone and that's what usually happens."
[48] Paula and JT broke up in June 2008,
[49] citing their hectic work schedules.
Legal issues
On December 20, 2004, Abdul was driving her Mercedes on an L.A.-area freeway when she changed lanes and hit another vehicle. The driver and passenger snapped a photograph with a cell phone camera and wrote down the license plate number of the car, which was traced to Abdul. On March 24, 2005, Abdul was fined
$900 and given 24 months of informal
probation after pleading
no contest to
misdemeanor hit-and-run driving in Los Angeles. In addition to the fines, she was ordered to pay $775 for damage to the other car.
[50]
Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy
In April 2005, Abdul revealed that she suffers from a rare neurological disorder called
Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (CRPS) that causes chronic pain.
[51]
Victim of battery
On April 4, 2006, Abdul filed a report at a
Hollywood police station claiming she had been a victim of battery at a private party at about 1 a.m. April 2, according to L.A.P.D. spokesman police Lt. Paul Vernon. "According to Abdul, the man at the party argued with her, grabbed her by the arm and threw her against a wall," Vernon said. "She said she had sustained a concussion and spinal injuries."
[52]
Religion
Paula practices Judaism
[53] and is proud of her heritage. She once stated, "My father is a
Syrian Jew whose family immigrated to Brazil. My mother is
Canadian with Jewish roots. My dream is to come to Israel for a real holiday." In November 2006,
Israeli Tourist Minister Isaac Herzog invited her to Israel, Abdul responding with a hug, adding, "I will come; you have helped me make a dream come true."
[54]
Activism
Paula is also a dog lover who raised awareness about National Guide Dog Month in May 2009 and she is teaming up with
Dick Van Patten to help people with blindness to have more independence through the help of guide dogs.
[55] She does not wear real fur.
[56]
Controversies
Corey Clark
In May 2005,
ABC's news magazine
Primetime Live reported claims by Season 2
American Idol contestant
Corey Clark that he and Abdul had an affair during that season, and that she had coached him on how to succeed in the competition. The fact that Clark came forward at a time when he was marketing a CD and trying to get a book deal was seen as suspicious by some, but Clark maintains that his career was being prejudiced because of his relationship with Abdul and that is why he came forward with the information to clear his name. For the most part, Abdul refused to comment on Clark's allegations.
Simon Cowell came to Abdul's defense, calling Corey Clark a creep and stating “It was just somebody using her to get a lot of publicity for an appalling record, full stop.
[citation needed] At the height of the debacle, Abdul appeared in a
Saturday Night Live skit, making light of the situation.
[57] While
Fox launched an investigation, Abdul received numerous calls of support from celebrities, including
Oprah Winfrey and
Kelly Ripa;
Barbara Walters even addressed the camera during an episode of ABC's
The View to say she was sad 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 confirmed that she would be returning to the show, as the investigation had found "insufficient evidence that the communications between Mr. Clark and Ms. Abdul in any way aided his performance."
[58]
Substance abuse allegations
Substance abuse allegations arose as the result of what some described as "erratic behavior"
[51] by Abdul during episodes of
American Idol. After reading these allegations on message boards, Abdul told
People magazine in April 2005 that she suffered from chronic pain for years following a "cheerleading accident" at age 17 and was diagnosed with
reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) in November 2004.
[51] Abdul says she is now pain-free following treatment, including the anti-inflammatory medication
Enbrel.
[51]
Allegations arose again in January 2007 when videos circulated on the Internet of Abdul appearing to sway in her chair and slur her speech during a set of interviews.
[59] Abdul's publicist attributed this to fatigue and technical difficulties during the recording of the interviews.
[59] It was revealed on the Bravo show
Hey Paula, which had followed Abdul with a video camera prior to the interviews, that Abdul had not been sleeping, perhaps suffering from some mild form of insomnia.
[citation needed]
In February 2007, Abdul told
Us Weekly that she had never been drunk or used illegal drugs and called the allegations "lies."
[60]
In a March 2007 appearance on the
Late Show with David Letterman, Abdul joked that her scrutinized behavior was caused by her being "abducted by aliens."
In several interviews given in the late 2000s, Paula claimed to have been left in debilitating pain after a 1992 car accident and a 1993 plane crash that required 15 spinal surgeries and which left her dependent on pain medication for years.
[61]
In May 2009,
Ladies' Home Journal posted an article on its Web site that said Abdul told them she attended the La Costa Resort and Spa the previous year to recover from
physical dependence on prescription pain medications.
[62] The medications, prescribed due to injuries and her RSD diagnosis, included a pain patch, nerve medication, and a muscle relaxant. According to the article, Abdul said the medications made her "get weird" at times and that she suffered from physical
withdrawal symptoms during her recovery.
[62]
Later that same week, though, in an interview with Detroit radio station WKQI, Abdul rejected the article's accuracy. She told the radio station she never checked into a rehab clinic and never had a drug abuse problem.
[63]
Tours
Discography
- Studio Albums
Filmography
Film and television
As choreographer
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Who is Christopher Ashton Kutcher? The entertainment and acting world knows as Ashton Kutcher, as an American actor, producer, former fashion model and comedian, best known for his portrayal of Michael Kelso in the Fox sitcom That '70s Show. He also created, produced and hosted Punk'd, and played lead roles in the Hollywood films Dude, Where's My Car?, Just Married, The Butterfly Effect, The Guardian, and What Happens in Vegas. He is also the producer and co-creator of the supernatural TV show Room 401 and the reality TV show Beauty and the Geek. It was announced in May 2011 that Kutcher would replace Charlie Sheen in the hit CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men.
Kutcher was born February 7, 1978 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to Larry Kutcher, a factory worker, and Diane (née Finnegan), a Procter & Gamble employee.[2][3][4] Kutcher was raised in a conservative Roman Catholic family,[5] with an older sister, Tausha, and a fraternal twin, Michael, who had a heart transplant when the brothers were young children. Kutcher attended Washington High School in Cedar Rapids for his freshman year before his family moved to Homestead, Iowa, where he attended Clear Creek Amana High School. In a 2010 interview on Late Night with David Letterman, Kutcher claimed to be an all-state linebacker who averaged 15 tackles per game in high school. According to a former coach, however, Kutcher played sparingly as a wide receiver on a team that won only two games in his entire high school football career. Kutcher also appeared in school plays.[6]
After some success in modeling, Kutcher moved to Los Angeles and, after his first audition, was cast as Michael Kelso in the television series That '70s Show, which debuted in 1998 and ended in 2006. Kutcher was cast in a series of film roles; although he auditioned but was not cast for the role of Danny Walker in Pearl Harbor (2001), (role went to Josh Hartnett),[12] he starred in several comedy films, including Dude, Where's My Car? (2000), Just Married (2003), and Guess Who (2005). He briefly appeared in the 2003 family film, Cheaper By The Dozen, playing a self-obsessed actor. His 2004 film The Butterfly Effect was an unusually dramatic role for Kutcher, playing a conflicted young man who fell in love with a girl named Kayleigh; the film received mixed to negative reviews, but was a box-office success.[6]
In 2003, Kutcher produced and starred in his own series on MTV's Punk'd as the host. The series involved various hidden camera tricks performed on celebrities. Kutcher is also an executive producer of the reality television shows Beauty and the Geek, Adventures in Hollyhood (based around the rap group Three 6 Mafia), and The Real Wedding Crashers and the game show Opportunity Knocks. Many of his production credits, including Punk'd, come through Katalyst Films, a production company he runs with partner Jason Goldberg.[13]
In 2003, Kutcher began dating actress Demi Moore. Moore and Kutcher married on September 24, 2005, in a private ceremony conducted by a Rabbi of the Kabbalah Center; the wedding was attended by about 150 close friends and family of the couple, including Bruce Willis, Moore's ex-husband.[17] In October 2010, Kutcher and Moore met with co-director of the Kabbalah Center Rabbi Yehuda Berg in Israel.[18]
On April 16, 2009, Kutcher ("aplusk") became the first user of Twitter to have more than 1,000,000 followers,[23] beating CNN in the "Million followers contest".[24][25][26] Kutcher announced via Twitter that he would be donating $100,000 to a charity to fight malaria. However, there have been several reports that Twitter manipulated the contest's results by preventing users from "unfollowing" Kutcher or CNN.[27]
