Madonna: I would have flopped on 'Idol'

Madonna is convinced that she would she have been kicked out early if she had appeared on American Idol.

The singer got her break after years of rejection and said she would not have progressed far if the US reality show had been around when her career began in the '80s.

She told New York radio station Z100: "I did it the hard way. I had to teach myself how to play the drums, I had to get into a band. [I played] in crappy little clubs for years before anybody would even pay any attention to me. [ I had to] take my tape around to record companies and have them shut the door in my face. It took a long time. I came up the hard way."

Commenting on her American Idol chances, she added: "I went to a lot of auditions for musical theatre and conventional mainstream things and I always got cut immediately, so I'm pretty sure the same thing would happen to me."

The 49-year-old also revealed that she exercises to Britney Spears's latest LP Blackout, saying: "I actually love Britney's new album... I usually work out to her record. I do a combination of Pilates and dance aerobics."

Madonna was recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Justin Timberlake, her collaborator on new single '4 Minutes'.

> Click here for our review of the single