The High Highs and Low Lows of Being Paula Abdul

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Posted by on 09/22/2011 at 12:14 PM News

The Popdust Files: american idol, high highs and low lows, paula abdul, the x factor, x-factor

With a professional career now of over three decades, Paula Abdul has just about seen it all from a celebrity perspective. She’s been both the nation’s darling and its embarrassing drunk aunt, its greatest star and its most pitiable disaster. With the debut of X Factor last night, we’re hoping that the pendulum can swing back towards the former. Reunited with her old buddy Simon Cowell and back in the music competition judge’s chair where she resurrected her career once before, Paula may never have a better chance to re-establish herself as a force in contemporary pop culture.

Even if not, though, with the work she’s put in and the headlines she’s made—for reasons both good and bad—since she was spotted by the Jacksons at that Laker game nearly 30 years ago, she’s a pop culture icon for all time. Here’s a chronicling of the high highs and low lows of the first three decades of Paula Abdul’s career.

For Part 1: FROM LAKER GIRL TO POP STAR, click NEXT.

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