Paula Abdul Appreciation Thread

[Moviefan2k4]

I didn't see one already listed, so here we go...

Whether you know her as a dance choreographer, a musician, a talent-show judge, or even a former cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers...most people are at least somewhat familiar with Paula Abdul. She started working in 1978, with a bit part in the musical featurette Junior High School, starring P. David Ebersole, and by 1984 was the choreographer for Victory, a promotional tour by The Jacksons. She also did the same for youngest member Janet Jackson, during her tour for the album Control.

In 1988, she released her first music album, Forever Your Girl, including now-classic pop hits "Straight Up", "Opposites Attract", and "(Its Just) The Way That You Love Me." A second album followed in 1991, called Spellbound, and a third in 1995, Head Over Heels. She also battled the eating disorder anorexia nervosa, and suffered severe injuries in a 1993 plane crash which led to 15 spinal surgeries over the next 6 years. To this day, she suffers from a chronic-pain condition known as reflex sympathetic dystrophy.

From 2002 to 2009, Paula was one of the main three judges on the long-running talent show American Idol, alongside Randy Jackson (no relation to the musical family), and Simon Cowell. She has since appeared on multiple short-lived talent shows in the same capacity, as well as performing a 2012 medley on Dancing With the Stars. In 2016, she performed her first headline set in over two decades, at the Mixtape Festival in Hershey, Pennsylvania.