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"Taylor Hicks has defended American Idol, describing the show as a &amp;quot;juggernaut&amp;quot;. The show&amp;#039;s latest season recently crowned Phillip Phillips the winner, but though 20.7m tuned in, the ratings were down 32% in the 18-49 demo compared to last year. Former Idol winner Kris Allen later suggested while speaking with TMZ that &amp;quot;maybe the show&amp;#039;s been going on too long&amp;quot;. Hicks - who won American Idol in 2006 - has now told TMZ how much he values the experience he had on the show. &amp;quot;American Idol is a juggernaut,&amp;quot; he said. &amp;quot;Because of my American Idol win, I am able to do the thing that I love most, which is to be an entertainer.&amp;quot; Hicks continued: &amp;quot;The fact that I am headlining Vegas six years after auditioning there and then ultimately winning [American Idol] is testament to the incredible platform the show continues to provide for me.&amp;quot; Hicks recently signed up to appear in Fox&amp;#039;s new dating show The Choice, which will premiere June 7. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/american-idol/news/a383974/taylor-hicks-defends-american-idol-its-a-juggernaut/>