Paula Abdul’s journey from rejection to leading the Laker Girls and choreographing The Jacksons is one of the great underdog stories in pop culture history.

In this Part 1 episode, Paula walks through her earliest timeline chronologically — being born premature with lung complications and hip dysplasia, growing up idolizing Gene Kelly and Bob Fosse, and fighting against the idea that she wasn’t built to dance. She explains how relentless preparation, resilience, and rejection shaped her work ethic, leading to her breakthrough moment with the Laker Girls during the Showtime Lakers era, performing in front of Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and catching the attention of executives that opened the door to her first professional job choreographing The Jacksons and contributing to their Victory Tour. This is the origin story of the dancer and choreographer who built the foundation of her legendary career long before global fame.

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