Hey, Paula! Everyone’s Favorite Singer, Dancer, and Reality Show Star Turns 50!

Paula Abdul’s first “break” actually came while she was still in high school. She had a small role in the very low-budget Junior High School. She played Sherry, who really knew how to throw a party.

Back in 1981, growing up in Southern California, Paula Abdul was just a girl with a dream. She idolized Gene Kelly and hoped someday to make it as a dancer.

After high school, Paula went on to Cal State at Northridge, but during her freshman year she was chosen to be a Laker Girl. Within three months she had been made head choreographer, and a short time after that, she would drop out to become a dancer full-time.

Paula’s dancing caught the attention of Hollywood pretty quickly, and soon she was choreographing for music videos and movies (including this awesome scene from Can’t Buy Me Love). But what she really wanted was to be choreographing her own music video, so she started working on a demo, and in 1988 finally released her first album, Forever Your Girl.

Forever Your Girl had a slow start, but after more than a year, it hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts and would hold the spot for a total of 10 weeks. The album would go on to spawn four No. 1 hits, including our personal favorite, “Opposites Attract.” The video owes a lot to the appearance of the one, the only MC Skat Kat, Paula’s cartoon cat boyfriend who would go on to release his own (less successful) album the following year.

In 1992, Paula married Emilio Estevez and they were the It couple of the moment. She was performing all over the world, and he was hot off his Brat Pack days. But, alas, it was not meant to be. Two years later they divorced. Later, Paula said that it was over children—she wanted them; he already had two and didn’t want more. “It was heartbreaking for both of us,” she said.

After the success of Forever Your Girl and her next album Spellbound and the stress of her highly publicized divorce, Paula hit a bit of a career snag. She continued making music and choreographing behind the scenes, but all of that would change with two little words: American Idol. She signed on to be one of the judges, and she was forever our girl once again, as the show became the biggest hit in the land.

Paula’s time on Idol was not without controversy. In its second season, contestant Corey Clark was disqualified for not disclosing a prior arrest to producers. Two years later (in what seemed like a ploy for publicity), he alleged that he had had an affair with Paula and that she had helped him make the Top 12. After an investigation, producers dismissed the claims, and Paula returned for four more seasons, leaving the show in 2009.

Idol was never the same once Paula left, but it seemed like she found an even better fit with Live to Dance. It was a similar premise to Idol, auditioning aspiring dancers around the country. She was joined by Pussycat Doll, Kimberly Wyatt, and Michael Jackson’s longtime choreographer Travis Payne.  But sadly, the show, and its amazing dance domes, did not catch on, and it was not renewed for a second season.

Simon Cowell only lasted one Paula-less season on Idol before leaving to develop X-Factor for the U.S. High on his list for fellow judges was Paula, and she signed on in 2011. Poor Paula’s team was all voted off by the fifth week of voting, but she was back where she belonged, alongside Cowell. Producers felt the formula was too much like Idol, so she was not asked back for season 2, but it was fun while it lasted.

Thanks to her success on Idol, Paula worked on a new song for Randy Jackson’s Music Club, Vol. 1. “Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow” was only a modest hit (and let’s face it, not really in the same league as “Straight Up” and “Forever Your Girl”), and she followed it up with “I’m Just Here for the Music.” There were rumors of a new album, but so far it hasn’t been released.