Paula Abdul stunned crowd with her performance in memory of her father at the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas on Wednesday night.
Abdul's performance included singing, tap dancing and leaping at the waiting hands of the dancers, while her biggest hits played in the background.
Falling for @PaulaAbdul. ❤️ #BBMAs pic.twitter.com/mz2nEtKZfg
— Billboard Music Awards (@BBMAs) May 2, 2019
Fifty-six-year-old Abdul mentioned that her father passed away two weeks prior to the performance, a year after her mother passed away.
“I’m doing it for my mom and my dad!” Abdul said.
Abdul's father was born to a Jewish Syrian family from Aleppo. Abdul tweeted that "My Father was, and always will be, my superhero.”
“Thank you ALL for the heartfelt condolences. Your love and support is comforting me during this difficult time," she wrote on Twitter.
My Father was, and always will be, my superhero. ♥️
Thank you ALL for the heartfelt condolences. Your love and support is comforting me during this difficult time.
xoP pic.twitter.com/ASaIXfKIdm
— Paula Abdul (@PaulaAbdul) April 17, 2019
Abdul also posted a video kissing her father, adding that "Isn’t it a beautiful gift that I still feel his spirit with me?"
“Dad: a daughters first love.” - Unknown
—
Everyone loved my father. He had a heart of gold and carried his heart on his sleeve wherever he went, and shared it with everyone he came in contact with.
Isn’t it a beautiful gift that I still feel his spirit with me? pic.twitter.com/RfxY6Orsx0
— Paula Abdul (@PaulaAbdul) April 17, 2019
Abdul received a standing ovation from the crowd for her energetic performance.
The former American Idol judge celebrated her bat mitzvah in 2013 in Safed, at the age of 51, after saying that "My father is a Syrian Jew whose family immigrated to Brazil. My mother is Canadian with Jewish roots. My dream is to go to Israel for a real holiday."
