Paula Abdul

**Paula Julie Abdul** (; born June 19, 1962) is an American singer and dancer. She had a string of hit songs and choreographed (planned) many dances for herself and others, including singer-songwriter Janet Jackson.  Musically, she is known for her late-1980s number-one singles "Straight Up" and "Cold Hearted", along with the 1990s number-one hit "Opposites Attract".  She won a Grammy Award for "Best Music Video – Short Form" for "Opposites Attract". She was a judge on the television show _American Idol_ for its first eight seasons. She has a mezzo-soprano vocal range.

Abdul is Jewish.

## Discography

- Studio albums
- _Forever Your Girl_ (1988)
- _Spellbound_ (1991)
- _Head over Heels_ (1995)

## Tours and residencies

**Headlining**
- Under My Spell Tour (1991–92)
- Straight Up Paula! (2018–19)

**Co-headlining**
- Club MTV Live (1989)
- Total Package Tour (2017)

**Residency**
- Paula Abdul: Forever Your Girl (2019–20)

### Film

|Year|Title|Role|Notes||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1978|_Junior High School_|Sherry|||
|1983|_Private School_|Cheerleader|||
|1986|_A Smoky Mountain Christmas_|Choreographer|TV movie||
|1987|_Can't Buy Me Love_|Dancer|||
|1991|_L.A. Story_|Roller Skater|||
|1997|_Touched By Evil_|Ellen Collier|TV movie||
|1998|_The Waiting Game_|Amy Fuentes|TV movie||
|1999|_Mr. Rock 'n' Roll: The Alan Freed Story_|Denise Walton|TV movie||
|2002|_The Master of Disguise_|Choreographer|||
|rowspan=2|2005|_Robots_|Watch (voice)||
|_Romy and Michele: In the Beginning_|Herself|TV movie|||
|2009|_Brüno_|Herself|||
|2018|_A Sister's Secret_|Detective Tupper|TV movie||
|2020|_Impractical Jokers: The Movie_|Herself|||
|2022|_Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers_|Herself|||

### Television

|Year|Title|Role|Notes||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan=2|1988|_Soul Train_|Herself|Episode: "New Edition/Paula Abdul"|
|_Showtime at the Apollo_|Herself|Episode: "Episode #2.5" & "#2.12"|||
|1989|_The Tracey Ullman Show_|Herself|Episode: "Episode #3.18"||
|1990|_Going Live!_|Herself|Episode: "Episode #3.30"||
|1995|_Fully Booked_|Herself|Episode: "Episode #1.8"||
|rowspan=3|1996|_Muppets Tonight_|Herself|Episode: "Paula Abdul"|
|_Cybill_|Herself|Episode: "Lowenstein's Lament"|||
|_The Single Guy_|Herself|Episode: "Affair"|||
|rowspan=2|1998|_Saturday Night Live_|Herself|Episode: "David Duchovny/Puff Daddy/Jimmy Page"|
|_Spin City_|Herself|Episode: "It Happened One Night"|||
|rowspan=4|1999|_The Wayans Bros._|Sasha|Episode: "Dream Girl"|
|_All That_|Herself|Episode: "All That Live! (100th Episode)"|||
|_Chicken Soup for the Soul_|Herself|Episode: "The Window/Cookie Thief/Appointment/All Good Things"|||
|_Sabrina, the Teenage Witch_|Herself|Episode: "Aging, Not So Gracefully"|||
|rowspan=2|2002|_Mad TV_|Herself|Episode: "Episode #8.1"|
|_Hollywood Squares_|Herself/Panelist|Recurring Guest|||
||_American Idol_|Herself/Judge|Main Judge: Seasons 1–8, Guest Judge: Season 19, Guest: Seasons 9 & 12 & 15 & 21||
|2003|_Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway_|Herself|Episode: "Episode #2.3"||
|2003-06|_E! True Hollywood Story_|Herself|Recurring Guest||
|rowspan=3|2004|_Driven_|Herself|Episode: "Paula Abdul"|
|_The Bernie Mac Show_|Herself|Episode: "That Old Mac Magic"|||
|_That's So Raven_|The Host|Episode: "The Road to Audition"|||
|rowspan=9|2005|_Your Total Health_|Herself|Episode: "Episode #2.2"|
|_Fashion in Focus_|Herself|Episode: "Big Money Under the Tents"|||
|_Biography_|Herself|Episode: "Paula Abdul"|||
|_Dateline NBC_|Herself|Episode: "Episode #13.36"|||
|_All of Us_|Herself|Episode: "Hollywood Swinging"|||
|_Saturday Night Live_|Herself|Episode: "Johnny Knoxville/System of a Down"|||
|_The Contender_|Herself|Episode: "Series Finale"|||
|_I Love the '80s 3-D_|Herself|Main Guest|||
|_Less Than Perfect_|Kathleen|Episode: "Distractions"|||
|2005-07|_Family Guy_|Herself (voice)|Guest: Season 4, Recurring Cast: Season 6||
|2006|_The X Factor_|Herself|Recurring Guest: Season 3||
|rowspan=2|2007|_Hey Paula_|Herself|Main Cast|
|_The Friday Night Project_|Herself/Guest Host|Episode: "Episode #5.6"|||
|rowspan=3|2008|_RAH! Paula Abdul's Cheerleading Bowl_|Herself/Host|Main Host|
|_Hollywood Residential_|Herself|Episode: "The Hotness"|||
|_Hotel Babylon_|Herself|Episode: "Episode #3.1"|||
|rowspan=4|2009|_InFANity_|Herself|Episode: "American Idol"|
|_Howie Do It_|Herself|Episode: "Episode #1.5"|||
|_E! Investigates_|Herself|Episode: "Stalkers"|||
|_VH1 Divas_|Herself/Host|Main Host|||
|2009–11|_Drop Dead Diva_|Herself|Recurring Cast: Seasons 1-3||
|rowspan=2|2011|_Live to Dance_|Herself/Judge|Main Judge|
|_The X Factor_|Herself/Judge|Main Judge: Season 1|||
|rowspan=2|2012|_I Will Survive_|Herself|Episode: "Episode #1.14"|
|_Dancing with the Stars_|Herself|Episode: "Semi-Final Results"|||
|2013-14|_RuPaul's Drag Race_||Episode: "Reunited" & "Drag Queens of Talk"||
|2013-16|_So You Think You Can Dance_|Herself/Judge|Guest Judge: Season 10, Main Judge: Season 12–13||
|rowspan=2|2014|_So You Think You Can Dance Australia_|Herself/Judge|Main Judge: Season 4|
|_Neighbours_|Herself|Episode: "Episode #1.6910"|||
|rowspan=2|2015|_Real Husbands of Hollywood_|Herself|Episode: "Suck My Trick"|
|_Strictly Come Dancing_|Herself|Episode: "Week Four"|||
|rowspan=3|2016||Herself|Episode: "How to Survive Insufficient Funds"|
|_Lip Sync Battle_|Herself|Episode: "Channing Tatum vs. Jenna Dewan-Tatum"|||
|_Bookaboo_|Herself|Episode: "Bookaboo's Barkin' New Year's Eve"|||
|2017|_Fresh Off the Boat_|Holly|Episode: "Do You Hear What I Hear?"||
|rowspan=2|2018|_Impractical Jokers: After Party_|Herself|Episode: "Bull Shiatsu"|
|_The X Factor_|Herself/Adviser|Episode: "Judges' Houses 1"|||
|2019|_America's Got Talent_|Herself|Episode: "Live Results Finale"||
|rowspan=2|2020|_Celebrity Ghost Stories_|Herself|Episode: "Paula Abdul"|
|_Impractical Jokers: Dinner Party_|Herself|Episode: "The Backyard Cookout Episode"|||
|2020-21|_The Masked Dancer_|Herself/Panelist|Main Panelist||
|rowspan=6|2021|_For Real: The Story of Reality TV_|Herself|Episode: "Make It Work"|
|_Secret Celebrity Renovation_|Herself|Episode: "Paula Abdul"|||
|_The Movies That Made Us_|Herself|Episode: "Coming to America"|||
|_Superstar_|Herself|Episode: "George Michael"|||
|_I Can See Your Voice_|Herself/Panelist||||
|_The Greatest AtHome Videos_|Herself|Episode: "Let Paula Be the Judge"|||
|rowspan=4|2022|_Janet Jackson_|Herself|Episode: "Part 2 & 4"|
|_Bling Empire_|Herself|Episode: "Adieu ma Chérie"|||
|_American Rescue Dog Show_|Herself/Judge|Main Judge|||
|_Made for Love|Anydoors|Recurring Cast: Season 2|||
|rowspan=2|2023|_The Muppets Mayhem|Herself|Episode: "Track 7: Eight Days a Week"|
|_Luann & Sonja: Welcome to Crappie Lake_|Herself|Episode: "X-Mas in July" & "The Grand Finale"|||

### As Choreographer

|Year|Artist|Music Video|||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1984|The Jacksons|"Torture"|||
|rowspan="5"|1986|rowspan="4"|Janet Jackson|"What Have You Done for Me Lately"|
|"Nasty"|||||
|"When I Think of You"|||||
|"Control"|||||
|ZZ Top|"Velcro Fly"||||
|1987|Debbie Gibson|"Shake Your Love"|||
|2014|Avon|"Check Yourself"|||

|Year|Artist|Tour|
| --- | --- | --- |
|1984|The Jacksons|"Victory Tour"|
|1988|George Michael|"The Faith Tour"|

|Year|Title|Notes||
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan="4"|1987|_The Tracey Ullman Show_|Won an Emmy Award|
|_Dragnet_||||
|_Can't Buy Me Love_||||
|_The Running Man_||||
|rowspan="3"|1988|_Action Jackson_||
|_Coming To America_||||
|_Big_||||
|rowspan="3"|1989|_She's Out of Control_||
|_Dance to Win_||||
|_The Karate Kid Part III_||||
|rowspan="2"|1990|_17th American Music Awards_|Won an Emmy for her own performance, "(It's Just) The Way That You Love Me"|
|_62nd Academy Awards_|"Under the Sea" from 'The Little Mermaid' and "Best Costume Design" category|||
|1991|_The Doors_|Val Kilmer's choreographer||
|1996|_Jerry Maguire_|||
|1999|_American Beauty_|||
|rowspan="2"|2001|_Black Knight_||
|_Reefer Madness_|Off-Broadway|||
|2003|_Zoe's Dance Moves_|||
|2009|_American Idol_|Season 8-Disco Week (Results Show)||
|2022|_1660 Vine_|||

## Awards and honors

|scope="col"|Award|scope="col"|Year|scope="col"|Category|scope="col"|Nominated work|Result|Ref.|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan="8"|American Music Awards|rowspan="4"|1990|Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist|rowspan="3"|Herself||rowspan="4"||
|Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist||||||||||
|Favorite Dance Artist||||||||||
|Favorite Pop/Rock Album|_Forever Your Girl_|||||||||
|rowspan="1"|1991|Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist|Herself|||||||
|rowspan="3"|1992|Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist|rowspan="2"|Herself||rowspan="3"||||
|Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist||||||||||
|Favorite Adult Contemporary Album|_Spellbound_|||||||||
|rowspan="6"|Billboard Music Video Awards|rowspan="4"|1989|Best Female Video|rowspan="3"|"Straight Up"||rowspan="4"||
|Best New Artists Video||||||||||
|Best Editing||||||||||
|Best Choreography|"Cold Hearted"|||||||||
|rowspan="2"|1990|Best Female Video|rowspan="2"|"Opposites Attract"||rowspan="2"||||
|Best Director||||||||||
|Brit Awards|1990|International Breakthrough Act|Herself|||||||
|Choreographers Carnival|2013|Lifetime Achievement|Herself|||||||
|Ellis Island Medal of Honor|2019||Herself|||||||
|GLAAD Gala|2019|Ariadne Getty Ally|Herself|||||||
|rowspan="2"|Grammy Awards|1990|Best Female Pop Vocal Performance|"Straight Up"||rowspan="2"||||
|1991|Best Short Form Music Video|"Opposites Attract"||||||||
|Hollywood Walk of Fame|1991||Herself|||||||
|Impact Awards|2022||Herself|||||||
|Industry Dance Awards|2014|Icon|Herself|||||||
|rowspan="2"|Juno Awards|rowspan="2"|1990|International Album of the Year|_Forever Your Girl_||rowspan="2"|||
|International Single of the Year|"Straight Up"|||||||||
|Los Angeles Music Awards|1992|Pop Album of the Year|Spellbound|||||||
|rowspan="17"|MTV Video Music Awards|rowspan="2"|1987|rowspan="2"|Best Choreography in a Video|"Nasty" <small>(by Janet Jackson)</small>||rowspan="2"||
|"When I Think of You" <small>(by Janet Jackson)</small>||||||||||
|rowspan="6"|1989|Best Female Video|rowspan="6"|"Straight Up"||rowspan="6"||||
|Best New Artist in a Video||||||||||
|Best Dance Video||||||||||
|Breakthrough Video||||||||||
|Best Choreography in a Video||||||||||
|Best Editing in a Video||||||||||
|rowspan="6"|1990|Best Female Video|rowspan="6"|"Opposites Attract"||rowspan="6"||||
|Best Dance Video||||||||||
|Breakthrough Video||||||||||
|Best Direction in a Video||||||||||
|Best Choreography in a Video||||||||||
|Best Special Effects in a Video||||||||||
|1991|Best Female Video|"Rush Rush"||||||||
|rowspan="2"|1995|Best Dance Video|rowspan="2"|"My Love Is for Real"||rowspan="2"||||
|Best Choreography in a Video||||||||||
|Music Business Association|2017|Harry Chapin Memorial Humanitarian|Herself|||||||
|National Eating Disorders Association|2005|Profiles in Living|Herself|||||||
|Nevada Ballet Theatre|2007|Woman of the Year|Herself|||||||
|Nevada Equality Awards|2019|Ally Leadership|Herself|||||||
|NewNowNext Awards|2010|Always Next, Forever Now Icon|Herself|||||||
|rowspan="2"|Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards|1990|Favorite Female Musician/Group|Herself||||||
|1991|Hall of Fame|Herself||||||||
|rowspan="2"|People's Choice Awards|1990|rowspan="2"|Favorite Female Musical Performer|rowspan="2"|Herself||rowspan="2"||
|1991||||||||||
|rowspan="8"|Primetime Emmy Awards|1988|rowspan="3"|Outstanding Choreography|rowspan="2"|_The Tracey Ullman Show_||rowspan="8"||
|1989||||||||||
|1990|_The 17th Annual American Music Awards_|||||||||
|2003|rowspan="5"|Outstanding Reality-Competition Program|rowspan="5"|_American Idol_||||||
|2004||||||||||
|2005||||||||||
|2006||||||||||
|2007||||||||||
|Revel Dance Convention|2021|Revelation Icon|Herself|||||||
|Shorty Awards|2020|Best Celebrity|Herself|||||||
|Soul Train Music Awards|1990|Best Song of the Year|"Straight Up"|||||||
|rowspan="3"|Teen Choice Awards|2003|Choice TV: Reality Babe|Herself||||||
|2004|Choice Reality/Variety TV Star - Female|Herself||||||||
|2005|Choice TV Personality - Female|Herself||||||||
|YMA Fashion Scholarship Fund AMY Awards|2006|Leadership|Herself|||||||

## Infobox (musical artist)

- **embed**: yes
- **background**: solo_singer
- **instrument**: Vocals


## Infobox (person)

- **name**: Paula Abdul
- **image**: File:Paula_Abdul_2011_2.jpg
- **caption**: Abdul in 2011
- **birth name**: Paula Julie Abdul
- **birth place**: San Fernando, California, USA
- **nationality**: American
- **alma mater**: California State University, Northridge
- **height**: 152 cm
- **years active**: 1978–present