( EW.com ) -- Mariah Carey is clarifying her feelings about working on Fox 's `` American Idol . '' `` Honestly , I hated it , '' she said during a Hot 97 radio interview when asked about her time judging season 12 of the talent competition earlier this year along with Randy Jackson , Keith Urban and — most infamously and contentiously — Nicki Minaj . So how much did she hate it ? `` I was led to believe — I was the first person signed on , '' Carey said ( video below ) . `` Heaven forbid I look like I 'm saying something negative , but honestly I thought it was going to be a three-person panel . They gave me a nice dangling monetary moment . I was like , okay , Randy Jackson will be there , I 've known him forever . This is n't a big deal . This will be nothing . But it was n't that . It was like hell . It was like going to work every day in hell with Satan . '' So , yes . She apparently really despised being on Idol . As Carey laughed and covered her eyes at her last comment , the host asked , `` Really ? '' And then Carey added : `` Nah , I 'm just playing . It did n't affect me that much . '' Oh , okay , she was pretty cool with it ? `` I was disappointed , '' she added-added . So she was disappointed then ? `` I loved the contestants . And some of them were so good , and also really good people . '' So dealing with the contestants — that part Carey liked ? `` It was disappointing when they would — for political reasons — not put [ contestants ] through . And I 'm like , I 'm not going to sit here and do this . I would prefer to put this person in a studio and record a record with them . '' `` Idol '' really hired Carey as a judge ? She ca n't even clearly state her own opinion — about her own opinion ! The singer just released a new single titled , ironically , `` The Art of Letting Go . '' Both Carey and Minaj are off Idol for next season , which has Urban , Harry Connick Jr. and Jennifer Lopez as judges and premieres on Jan. 15 . See the original story at EW.com . CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly . © 2011 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved .
Carey says she was disappointed with `` American Idol '' and that the show has been a "huge disappointment" to her. Says she `` loved the contestants ''