VIDEO: David Archuleta’s Tearful Announcement: He’ll Depart On A Two Year Mission

American Idol runner-up David Archuleta is hitting the road – taking a break from music to spend two years on a Mormon mission.

Archuleta, 20 announced his plans at a Salt Lake City stop on his Christmas tour. Salt Lake is home to the Mormon religion, the headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The crowd erupted in cheers.

“It’s not because someone told me that I was supposed to do it, not because … I no longer want to do music anymore … But it’s because it’s the feeling that I felt that I need to do next in my life. It’s just the same feeling that I’ve always followed, tried to follow in my life.”

Season 7’s Archuleta is still considered one of the more successful non-winning contestants – although he was recently dropped by his record label.

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