Paula Julie Abdul (born June 19, 1962) is a popular American singer, choreographer, dancer and actress. In the 1980s, her career rose rapidly, from being a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers to being a highly sought-after choreographer at the height of the music video era, then to being a pop music singer with a string of top hits in the late 1980s and early 1990s. After that she suffered a series of reverses in her professional and personal life, until she found renewed fame and success in the 2000s as a judge on the highly rated television series American Idol.
In 2002, Abdul appeared as one of three judges for the reality television music competition show American Idol. Abdul, along with fellow judges Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson, was to evaluate the talent of a large group of young amateur singers, eliminate most of them in various audition rounds, and then judge the finalists as American television viewers voted on which finalists who continue to each successive round, until all but the winner were eliminated. Abdul won praise as a sympathetic and compassionate judge, while garnering criticism for being too sympathetic with "bad" singers.[citation needed] She seemed especially kind when her critiques were compared against those of fellow judge Simon Cowell, who was often blunt in his appraisals of the contestants' performances. When she realized that Cowell's over-the-top judging style was heartbreaking for many young contestants, Abdul was so horrified, she considered leaving the show. Although their differences often resulted in extremely heated on-air exchanges and confrontations, Cowell says he played a major role in convincing Abdul not to walk off.
Now a bonafide television celebrity, Abdul accepted a second gig as reporter for Entertainment Tonight. She continued to attract attention during subsequent seasons of American Idol; her desire to find something positive in almost every performance, her emotion-laden praise for contestants whose style she really liked, and her unique fingers-bent-outwards handclapping style were all lampooned by Amy Poehler on Saturday Night Live sketches.
During 2004, public concern for Abdul began growing as a result of some apparently erratic behavior during episodes of American Idol. When rumors of drug or alcohol abuse began to swirl[citation needed], Abdul went to People magazine to explain that she had been diagnosed with reflex sympathetic dystrophy and was undergoing successful treatment.
In May 2005, ABC's newsmagazine Primetime Live reported claims by Season 2 Idol contestant Corey Clark that he and Abdul had an affair during that season, and that she had coached him on how to succeed in the competition. The fact that Clark came forward at a time when he was marketing a CD and trying to get a book deal was seen as suspicious by some.[citation needed] For the most part, Abdul refused to comment on Clark's allegations.[citation needed] At the height of the debacle, Abdul appeared in a Saturday Night Live skit, making light of the situation. While Fox launched an investigation, Abdul received numerous calls of support from celebrities, including Oprah Winfrey; Barbara Walters even addressed the camera during an episode of ABC's The View to say she was ashamed to be part of an operation that would report Clark's flimsy tabloid claims under the guise of a news story.
In August 2005 the Fox network announced that, after hiring lawyers from two impartial law firms who conducted almost 600 hours of interviews with 43 people (including Abdul and Clark), no evidence was found to substantiate Clark's claims that he had an affair with Abdul or that she helped him during the contest.[citation needed] Abdul did admit to investigators that she had telephone conversations with Clark during the competition, but her account of those talks differed from Clarkâs.[citation needed] The network confirmed that she would be returning to the show, as the investigation had found "insufficient evidence that the communications between Mr. Clark and Ms. Abdul in any way aided his performance."(CNN Abdul cleared in 'Idol' probe) The only evidence reported by ABC was voluminous phone records, Clark produced one of her prescription bottles and gave some accurate details about the inside of her house, the salesperson who sold them their cell phones together, and the tape recordings of the phone calls she made to Cory's parent's house. In addition, he claimed that she had purchased his clothes for show (he wore a $700 outfit) and helped him pick the song that he had sung for the show which was Randy Jackson's biggest hit. Season 5 of the show premiered on January 17, 2006, with Abdul reappearing as a judge.
Throughout season 5, she predicted that the early frontrunner, rocker Chris Daughtry, would make it to the finals, but he was eliminated on May 9, after a merely average performance.
On March 28, 2006 FOX announced that Abdul had signed to stay on American Idol as a judge for at least 3 more years.
source: wikipedia.org
