More people voted for American Idol than for any U.S. president, ever. Oh shit. We're screwed.

Taylor Hicks, 29, emerged as the winner in the finale of the TV show on Wednesday night in which 63m votes were cast. It is the biggest single voting night in the five-season history of the show. In the 1984 US presidential election, 54.5 million voters backed Ronald Reagan - the most votes obtained by a president.