Mariah: 'Idol' Did Not See the Real Me

Mariah Carey spilled exclusive details about her American Idol experience on Elvis Duran and the Z100 Morning Show on Wednesday, explaining why "the real Mariah was so not there."

"I should've been a mentor on the show and that's it," Mariah, 43, said of her one-season stint on the show. "I should've been the Jimmy Iovine."

The Grammy winner went on to clarify that she loves Jimmy and thought that he did a great job, but he could've been more tactful with his critiques.

"There needed to be that person that was brutally honest, but the brutality didn't have to be so visceral," said Mariah. "We didn't need to be brutal to people just to make ourselves feel bigger."

The pop diva felt sympathy for the contestants and pointed out that they were taking a path that she never had to go down. In the nascent stages of her career, Mariah's classroom was a windowless studio while the contestant's mistakes were made in front of millions of viewers.

Mariah also suggested that she could've done without all the drama surrounding her season.

"I felt that going in the direction of making it a reality show was not something I signed up for," said Mariah. "We love everybody ... but we wish you would've tried it on a different season."

In November, Mariah aired her grievances about Idol with Hot 97's Angie Martinez.

"Honestly, I hated it," Mariah confessed. "Here's what it was. I was the first person who signed on. I thought it was going to be a three-person panel. They gave me a nice, monetary moment, and I was just like, 'Okay, Randy Jackson will be there; I've known him forever. He used to play bass for me. Like, this isn't a big deal. This will be nothing.'"

However, country crooner Keith Urban, 46, and rapper Nicki Minaj, 30, also signed on for the show. "But it wasn't that," she continued. "It was like going to work every day in hell with Satan."

During her sit-down with Elvis Duran, Mariah premiered her new single You're Mine (Eternal) from her upcoming album, due out May 6.