"It's been a whirlwind," pop icon Paula Abdul says during a brief break from her busy summer touring schedule.
Abdul – multi-award-winning singer, dancer, choreographer, actress and TV personality – is enjoying quite the summer, touring with the New Kids on the Block Magic Summer Tour before a three-night stint with Boyz II Men at the Hollywood Bowl. Next stop: Victoria, B.C. and the launch of her Straight Up! To Canada Tour, named, of course, for one of four No. 1 hits from her 1988 debut album Forever Your Girl.
"It's been so much fun and so joyful and that's all you can pray for as an artist. I hire great people and we love each other, so no matter what other chaos is going around, we've got each other," she says.
"Knowing that is a great place for starting, and also for expanding and continuing to be able to create," Abdul adds. "If you're not enjoying the people around you, it becomes work, work, work. And trust me, this is a lot of work! It's arduous and it's exhausting but it's also fun."
All of which suggests audiences are likely in for a stellar show when Abdul launches her Canadian tour at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre Sept. 25.
"Everyone has been experiencing a really joyful time," Abdul says of the summer's audiences. "I love when I'm able to inject some things that people maybe didn't know about me."
With 60 million records sold, Abdul has earned numerous awards and recognitions, including five MTV Video Music Awards, two GRAMMY Awards, three AMAs, two People’s Choice Awards and five Juno Awards. Her first studio album, Forever Your Girl, sold more than seven million copies in the U.S. alone and with four chart-topping singles, set a record for the most No. 1 Billboard-charted singles from a debut album.
Abdul's remarkably long and diverse career means that people who know her from one area – say her music career or her Emmy Award-winning choreography – may not know about other endeavours, such as her role as a judge with American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance.
"I've been able to sustain a long career in many different areas (but) I never take anything granted," she reflects. "I'm always trying to stay on my toes, so to speak. I grew up from a very curious girl into a curious woman and I love being able to have renaissances and challenge myself to keep reinventing."
A little background reading about Abdul's career included a story about how at 18, when the Los Angeles native was auditioning to be one of the first "Laker Girls," she was at first rejected – not once, but twice. The third time was the charm, but the story reveals a tenacity that has carried Abdul throughout her career.
At the time, "there was a certain look for a dancer. You had to be a certain height, a certain weight, and I had none of that working for me," laughs the petite Abdul, who, born three months premature, had hip dysplasia as a child. "With dancing, you have to have turned-out hips and mine were turned in. With everything that went against me, it's a miracle that that ended up being a big part of my career."
In the end, not only did Abdul make the Lakers' squad, she soon became head choreographer – a role that set her on a trajectory for success.
"That is totally indicative of how I approach my life, but here's the thing that's difficult: back then, it was really fun to have reckless abandon – really, what do I have to lose?"
Once you start becoming successful, and realize you do have something to lose, it's easy to become paralyzed and stop putting yourself out there, she says.
"I've always been mindful of that and I've always fought to hold onto a piece of that, because it's important. What's the worst that can happen? You get rejected, you fall on your butt, you get back up again, and quite honestly, I've had a really lovely career doing that," Abdul says with a laugh. "It's not a big deal and it's important to hold onto an element of that reckless abandon."
The Straight Up! To Canada Tour has another connection to those L.A. Lakers days. Also on tour is Taylor Dayne, a friend since she first asked Abdul to choreograph one of her MTV videos, before Abdul was an artist herself. Rounding out the lineup is Tiffany, whose remake of the Tommy James and the Shondells tune I Think We're Alone Now topped the charts in 1987.
"You've got three women who were part of the tapestry of so many people's lives...I just think it's going to be really fun for people to come back and relive so many important memories," Abdul says.
"There are only two things that take you back exactly to a moment in time – smell and music. No matter what, you remember exactly where you were – you remember the first slow dance you had (with Brent, for me) and what song was playing (Always and Forever)," says Abdul, who's been thrilled with the generations of fans – new and old – enjoying her shows together.
Seeing an eight year-old enjoying their first concert with mom and grandma, "I'm so excited that I'm their first concert! You'll never forget your first concert," she says.
While Abdul's favourite piece to perform changes with time and setting, "I challenge myself to not repeat something I've done, so it keeps me on my toes. I open with Straight Up! and it's an exciting opening, and I have so much fun doing Vibeology," Abdul says, before considering, "and The Way that You Love Me... I can't choose!"
For tickets to Paula Abdul's Straight Up! To Canada Tour launch in Victoria Sept. 25, visit sofmc.com
