Paula Abdul

Paula Abdul is a singer, dancer, and television personality from San Fernando, California, who started out cheering for the Los Angeles Lakers at 18 and later led the Laker Girls as head choreographer. The Jacksons discovered her, and she choreographed their single Torture, then music videos for Janet Jackson and dance sequences for films such as Can't Buy Me Love (1987), Coming to America (1988), Jerry Maguire (1996), and American Beauty (1999). Signed to Virgin Records, she released the debut album Forever Your Girl (1988), whose four number-one singles set a Hot 100 record, and then Spellbound (1991), which produced Rush Rush and The Promise of a New Day. She won a Grammy for the video for Opposites Attract and five MTV Video Music Awards. From 2002 to 2009 she was one of the original judges on American Idol, and she later judged The X Factor, Live to Dance, So You Think You Can Dance, and The Masked Dancer.