Paula Abdul Sues -- I Got Burned By Tanning Bed ... Now They'll Pay!

Paula Abdul is seeing red -- that's because she looked down and saw her leg burned to a crisp, and now she's suing the tanning salon that she claims scorched her to a faretheewell.

Paula claims in her lawsuit -- obtained by TMZ -- she went to UVASUN in L.A. back in 2012. She bought a SlimStar infrared body wrap treatment and then apparently went into the tanning bed.

When she came out ... she claims she suffered gross burns over her body, an "especially severe second or third degree burn on a portion of [her] left thigh."

Paula uses her legs to make a living ... come on, she's a dancer.