Straight Up Paula Abdul Trivia

Straight Up Paula Abdul Trivia by Roxanne McDonald

For all of those willing to help me start a family, I am flattered. I will let you know when I need your help. ~Paula Abdul

Accolades/Awards

I will never forget my humble beginnings as a Laker Girl. It was probably one of the most fun jobs I ever had. ~Paula Abdul

Nominated for four Emmys—with eleven others (producers and personalities) on Idol production, for Outstanding Reality Competition Program

1989 – Won Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography, for her work on “The Tracey Ullman Show”

1990 – Won Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography, for her work on The 17th Annual American Music Awards

1988 – While taking 62 weeks to do so, Forever Your Girl hit #1 on the Billboard 200, staying there for ten weeks

1989 – Forever Your Girl went multi-platinum and spawned the #1 hits “Cold Hearted”, “Forever Your Girl”, “(It’s Just) The Way That You Love Me”, and “Straight Up”
Her remix album, Shut Up and Dance, reached #7 on the Billboard album chart, and became one of the most successful remix albums of all time

1991 – Spellbound sold 8.5 million copies and spawned # 1 hits such as “Opposites Attract”, “The Promise of a New Day”, and “Rush Rush”

“Straight Up” was ranked #81 on VH1’s “100 Greatest Dance Songs”

Her “Opposites Attract” video won a Grammy

1995 – Her third album, Head Over Heels, spawned such hits as “My Love is for Real,” which reached #1 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart

2005 – Received the Profiles in Living Award

Has a star on Hollywood Boulevard; has won seven MTV Awards; two People’s Choice Awards; two Kids Choice Awards; and has been inducted into the Kids Choice Hall of Fame

Rumors and Ramblings About…

If they say, Paula is going crazy, the reason is, Simon is whispering things in my ear, like, What’s the price of beans? Things that make no sense at all. ~Paula Abdul

Born to Harry Abdul, a Mizrahi Syrian Jew who is a former livestock trader and current sand/gravel business owner, and Lorraine Rykiss, a Canadian Jew who is a former concert pianist and former assistant of Billy Wilder

With the last name Abdul, has been considered as Black before people meet her/met her; those mistaking her origins prior to meeting her include several kids/fans and Tyra Banks

Had Michael Bolton as a babysitter when she was young

Was an L.A. Lakers cheerleader

Was married to Emilio Esteves, with whom she honeymooned in Canada and who she divorced because of disparaging notions of having kids

Was married to Brad Beckerman, a sportswear designer she divorced two years later because of “irreconcilable differences”

Was a vegetarian until 2004

Has been satirized for her “erratic” behavior on Idol–slurred speech (due to meds or booze, go the speculations) and combined saccharine comments on Idol…by such performers as SNL’s Amy Poehler

Has told reporters/interviewers not only does she suffer from chronic pain from a cheerleading accident but has been diagnosed [in 2004] with reflex sympathetic dystrophy, and further, that she has never “been drunk or used illegal drugs”

Has a line of Paula Abdul Jewelry that she designs, wears, and gives Idol contestants as gifts; the line, advertised on QVC, has had 15 sellouts of more than 34,000 pieces

Says Roberts Flack’s “The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face” is her favorite song

Said that being proud of her Jewish heritage, she dreamed of someday going to Israel for a real holiday; Israeli Tourist Minister Isaac Herzog invited her to do so for Hanukkah one year, and Abdul delightedly accepted

Associations/Actions

Everyone is your best friend when you are successful. Make sure that the people that you surround yourself with are also the people that you are not afraid of failing with. ~Paula Abdul

Inspired very early on by such performers as Debbie Allen, Fred Astaire, Sammy Davis, Jr., Bob Fosse, Gregory Hines, and Gene Kelly

Began dancing by way of dance lessons at about eight years old

Was an honors student on the cheerleading squad at Van Nuys High School

Earned a dance scholarship; enrolled in broadcasting courses at California State University at Northridge; and in her freshman year, tried out for L.A. Lakers’ Laker Girls squad, making the cut out of a group of 700 applicants

Three months after making it as a Lakers Girl, was made head choreographer; and six months later, quit college

When she impressed the Jacksons at one game, was hired to choreograph the music video for Victory; went on to work choreographing for Janet Jackson, Jermaine Jackson, and Michael Jackson, as well as for other such musical artists as Toni Basil, Duran Duran, Debbie Gibson, Heart, INXS, Kool & the Gang, George Michael, Dolly Parton, Prince, Suzanne Somers, Luther Vandross, Steve Winwood, and ZZ Top

1987 – Made her first singing demo, marketing her dance over the untrained singing talent, and making for a shoe-in with the then relatively new MTV generation

Co-wrote “Spinning Around,” a song that while slated for her to use on an album, became a #1 hot for the recipient of her writing, Kylie Minogue

Has collaborated/worked with Keanu Reeves, Ofra Haza, and even Gene Kelly [in retro-fusion video technology, for Coke commercials]

Battled an eating disorder that inspired her becoming spokeswoman for NEDA and recording PSAs

Has choreographed dance numbers for such films as American Beauty, Coming to America, and The Running Man; and has worked such sequences as the touchdown “dance” done by Cuba Gooding Jr.’s character in Jerry Maguire and the giant keyboard toy store dance by Tom Hanks’ character in Big

Has appeared as a dancer [uncredited] in Can’t Buy Me Love, as Sherri in Junior High School, as in Touched by Evil, as Amy Fuentes in The Waiting Game [UK]; besides appearing as a judge on Idol and as herself in “Hey, Paula,” has had walk-on and other small parts on “Spin City”, “That’s So Raven”, and the “Wayans Brothers”; was a guest looking for love/relationship on a Valentine’s Day Dr. Phil special; and has been a contributing “singer” on such songs as Chunky A’s “Dope, The Big Lie”

1995/2005 – Released the dance/work-out videos Paula Abdul’s Get Up and Dance! and Cardio Dance; and a cheerleading/dance/fitness DVD series called Cardio Cheer

2002-present judged and judges American Idol, which she had contemplated leaving when Simon began his scathing critiques (but was convinced to stay); reports for “Entertainment Tonight”

2005 [March] Was photographed in her Mercedes on an L.A. highway making a lane change that also clipped another car; was fined $900/$1100; was ordered to pay $775 for damages to the other vehicle; and was given 24 months of “informal probation” after her plea of no contest to misdemeanor hit-and-run driving

2005 [May] Was reported/alleged to have had an affair with former Idol contestant Corey Clark (from season 2); the disclosures were delivered, however, at the same time Clark was trying his hardest to promote his singing/albums, while he maintained his getting voted off Idol and being subsequently black-balled in the industry were because of his affair with Abdul and while Abdul remained pretty hush hush, discounted the seriousness of the allegations, and garnered support from fellow celebs; the story went away almost as soon as it was aired—and once FOX confirmed that further investigations yielded “insufficient evidence that the communications between Mr. Clark and Ms. Abdul in any way aided his performance”

2006 – Filed a battery charge against a fellow party goer for injuries including a concussion and spinal injuries after the man reportedly threw her against a wall during an argument

2006 [March] was reported to have signed an extended contract, keeping her on Idol for three more years

2007 [July] “Hey, Paula” is in full swing
Celebrity Spider Paula Abdul links
SirLinksAlot American Idol links

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