Paula Adbul coming 'Straight Up' to Morristown

MORRISTOWN — Singer, dancer and choreographer Paula Abdul kicks off her first tour in over 25 years on Wednesday, Oct. 3 at 8 p.m. at Mayo Performing Arts Center on Wednesday, October 3 at 8 p.m. Tickets for "Straight Up Paula!" are $69-$119.
Paula Abdul began her career as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers at the age of 18 before rising to prominence in the 1980s as a highly sought choreographer at the height of the music video era. Abdul later scored a string of pop music hits in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Her six number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 tie her with Diana Ross for seventh among the female solo performers who have topped the chart. She won a Grammy for "Best Music Video — Short Form" for "Opposites Attract" and twice won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding choreography.
After her initial period of success, she saw renewed fame and success as an original judge on American Idol in the 2000s, which she left after the eighth season. She went on to star on CBS's short-lived television series Live to Dance, which lasted one season in 2011, and was subsequently a judge on the first season of The X Factor along with her former American Idol co-judge Simon Cowell. She was also a guest judge Dancing with the Stars om 2012 and So You Think You Can Dance in 2013, and more recently became a permanent judge for that series along with the Australian version of the show.