SALT LAKE CITY – “American Idol” runner-up David Archuleta will take a break from his singing career to serve a two-year proselytizing mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The contestant from the 2007-2008 season made the announcement during a Christmas concert Monday in downtown Salt Lake City, according to KSL.com. The 20-year-old Miami native, who grew up in Murray, Utah, said he’s not quitting music, but feels a strong call to serve the church.
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A video of the concert on Archuleta’s website shows him overwhelmed with emotion and crying as he talks about his plans. The crowd screams wildly with the news and gives him a standing ovation.
“It’s not because someone told me that I’m supposed to do it, and not because I no longer want to do music, but because it’s the feeling that I’ve felt I need to do this with my life,” Archuleta told the crowd.
Archuleta was 16 and one of the youngest contestants when he competed on the seventh season of “American Idol.” He has since released three albums, one of which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart.
In 2010, he performed with the Grammy-winning Mormon Tabernacle choir at the group’s annual Christmas concert.
Church spokesman Eric Hawkins confirmed that Archuleta had been called on a mission. Hawkins said he didn’t know when Archuleta was scheduled to report for missionary training.
The location of Archuleta’s mission has not been disclosed either by him or church officials.
Bieber skates with the pros before taping
TORONTO – Back home in Canada, Justin Bieber found some time for the national pastime.
The 17-year-old pop star took to the ice Wednesday with the Toronto Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre. He skated with players Dion Phaneuf, Jake Gardiner, Jonas Gustavsson and Tyler Bozak before taping his Christmas special at Massey Hall.
A day after another Canadian singer, Michael Buble, wore full equipment in skating with the Vancouver Canucks, Bieber sported a knit hat and Leafs warmups and took shots on Gustavsson.
Bieber has spent time around a number of sports teams during his travels. He joined a training session with Spanish soccer club Barcelona in April.
Judge adds prison time for ‘reckless’ Douglas
NEW YORK – A judge called the imprisoned son of actor Michael Douglas reckless and irresponsible as he nearly doubled his prison sentence Wednesday from five years to nine for repeated drug offenses.
U.S. District Judge Richard Berman cited Cameron Douglas’ “history of reckless behavior” as he imposed the new punishment. It was more than double what prosecutors were seeking for Douglas’ guilty plea to charges that arose from his successful efforts to smuggle drugs into prison.
Berman added four years to the five-year term he gave Douglas last year for his July 2009 guilty plea in the sale of methamphetamine from a high-end Manhattan hotel.
The judge said he had never had a case before in which a defendant “has so recklessly, wantonly, flagrantly and criminally acted in such a destructive and manipulative fashion as Cameron Douglas has.”
Berman reminded Douglas’ lawyers that he had warned at the earlier sentencing that it was the defendant’s last chance to turn around a life derailed by drugs and mental troubles stretching into his teenage years.
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