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The show'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 "maybe the show's been going on too long".
Hicks - who won American Idol in 2006 - has now told TMZ how much he values the experience he had on the show.
"American Idol is a juggernaut," he said. "Because of my American Idol win, I am able to do the thing that I love most, which is to be an entertainer."
Hicks continued: "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."
Hicks recently signed up to appear in Fox's new dating show The Choice, which will premiere June 7.
