Paula Abdul - some ways to find success in any artistic setting.

Abdul, Paula
born June 19, 1963

There are many accidents and decisions which need to happen before anyone can succeed, especially in an artistic setting. Paula Abdul has had most of them which makes her story one of the better examples.

Before getting started let me just say two things; forget high and low brow distinctions in art they are just another layer of pretension and while there is nothing wrong with that in general this art project is about success not excess.

Secondly, one of the things that gets some people into trouble is believing there is such a thing as integrity. Actually what they mean to worry about is being true to their inherent dispositions. But you know what? you can't avoid doing so, so don't worry about it. Every decision you make is automatically you being true to you. If you want to avoid being unhappy about any success you get while sleeping your way to the top, for example, just make sure to enjoyed it, at least you'll have that.

Now Paula Abdul is a plain fairly ordinary woman and if she can succeed than many people can. But just because anyone can win the lottery it doesn't mean you will or can. In fact just count the number of stars there are in the world and calculate the lottery winners that are pumped out and you quickly reason that it's better to buy a lottery ticket.

But you think merit will give you that edge don't you? You're the best singer and writer that ever lived aren't you? So all you need is that chance and you'll have it made. Well give it a try with a thought experiment with Paula's life.

Paula may have been poorish but she lived in LA. Location is important for one reason, accidental contacts, even those accidents that take effort to arrange. You see anyone can visit a hub of entertainment like LA, but the more time you spend there the better it is, obviously, for those accidents to happen. Moving there helps, but being born there gets you the unimaginable fantasy collisions and it is always the unimaginable one aims for in a contact.

Personality and drive have nothing to do with talent. You're the best singer and song writer that ever lived, don't forget, but can you take the abuse? Paula put up with the worst abuse you can find in the arts, but she was not destroyed before she found success. Most rejection has nothing to do with talent. The arts are about fashions and very little else. What's worse is that the gatekeepers don't even realize they are talking about fashions especially when they are admitting it is about fashions. They reject and reject because creation to them is only the narrow idea that is to be allowed through. Can you take the disgust? the pain in their faces? Can you see the narrow miss from the embarrassed horror within the various gatekeepers and play off of them? Can you show those irrelevant flashes of your "good" side to them without bumping your shoulder against the gate? And if they suddenly send you back to where you came from after showing you all the promise of a land heralded in myth are you going to suddenly say that one stupid thing that will make the email rounds from agent to producer to mega star that will bar you forever from their company? You need that personality and drive.

Now add failure. The more early failure you accumulate without destroying your mind the more you can spin your own PR later in life, meaning you can handle the BS that will always come. Training is what it is usually called, but really it is the banking of mistakes and errors, sometimes even other people's by feeling their screw ups like your own. And be serious about it, you want to remember it right? Paula was trained to dance within the momentary fashion of high school - if you want to be made to feel like a fuck up there is no better place.

Now we come to the moments of when you have some real control. When Paula had all the training she could take and could not even get through a single audition without rejection, someone suggested she tryout for the local basketball team's cheerleaders, the Laker Girls. Whether she thought of it or not here was everything she needed to succeed in that moment. A situation where her preparation helped, but really a moment where all the best opportunities lined up perfectly.

The Lakers had many music industry fans going to the games. Paula was trained in dance while the laker girls in general were not. She could shine over the others which is obviously important. Next, she could help the others improve their fashionability because she knew what the fashion gatekeepers were stopping. As a result she could lead this group which adds to her shine. Now the connections begin to accidentally fall in her lap - meaning the powerful in the music business could ponder what she was doing and come to her, which is really the only way to succeed.

At the time the music business was still trying to get a handle on the music video genre and saw a need for improvement. Fresh ideas are what they wanted and when you're pondering in front of the Laker Girls while trying to unwind after another disastrous day at the label something better happen - if not on the first night you're watching Paula's choreography one hopes by the one hundred and seventh time.

Eventually the Jackson family noticed her work and approached her to choreograph concerts. Then Janet Jackson wanted her for her videos. My question at this point is always what takes these contacts so long to appear? As soon as Paula did the work for the Jackson's suddenly all these other industry people came flocking to her. Many of the same people who pondered for years in front of Paula as a Laker Girl and never thought to call her before. My best answer is it is because they are just the gatekeepers and after Paula gained the status of fashion accessory she became the object to be obtained. Nothing had changed really but now they were keeping the newly unfashionable away from her.

This fact became more apparent when Paula was approached by a music industry middle-weight for any odd music projects she had in mind. What a stroke of luck she thought, but her agent (a gatekeeper) told her not to do it. They had to keep her away from herself. When she crashed the gate into her own party her agent suddenly dropped her.

Now Paula made the record and it was a flop. Yes this is the same album that sold over ten million records later. It was a flop at first. The label released two videos to back up singles and nothing was happening. This is story of how to succeed in the arts and she made it so far and was going to go nowhere. Remember this moment and bring it to mind when thinking about every success story because it shows how their is no tipping point, there is no moment where you say "and the rest was history". Each gradation that is attained comes with new and devious tricks and obstacles. Luckily for her one little station played a single called "Straight Up" directly off the album only because one guy happened to like it. No one forced him, he just liked it. That is what every success story will come down to, a lucky break, if not a hundred lucky breaks. That one station playing that one unsupported song caused it to grow across the US until this song, her album and her stardom were household facts around the world.

That is one story of success. But just because there will be others it doesn't mean yours can be one of them. I know you won't listen to me if I tell you this, but when you flop just remember I told you so then finally go buy a lottery ticket and relax, you'll be better off.

Geoff Hamilton, November 09, 2005