Hi °C | Lo °C 
Mariah Carey has advised American Idol contestants that they have to be prepared to work hard if they want a successful career.
The Grammy-winning songstress, who sits on the judging panel alongside Nicki Minaj, Keith Urban and Randy Jackson, admitted that a long career won't fall into your lap.
"You have to work like you can't even imagine. It Is extremely hard to do this for a living and if you want to have a really long career you've got to work even harder, even when you're sick, no matter what it is," she said.
The 42-year-old, who has been in the industry for over 20 years, added: "And you have to love it. Really it's not about doing it because you want to become famous and infamous or whatever - it's about loving this as a lifestyle and loving music."
Mariah admitted it isn't easy saying no to wannabes.
"You really do become attached to certain contestants who have a massive amount of talent. At that point for me, it was really a hard decision," she said.
"It went way beyond who's going to be the biggest star, it was like I'm really, truly attached to this contestant and I don't know how I'm going to let them go."
She added: "I have so much more respect for the process of this whole thing that just sitting here and seeing people go through it. I'm like 'Wow' for the people that have gone on this show and gone on to have a career afterwards whether they won or didn't win. That's just amazing."
The new season of American Idol premieres on 5* on January 17.
