(RNN) - After nearly a week of silence, pop superstar Madonna finally opened up about rapper M.I.A.'s finger malfunction at the Super Bowl, calling it an "irrelevant" act that ruined the otherwise positive energy of her halftime show.
In her first comments since Sunday's performance, the Queen of Pop told Ryan Seacrest she wasn't aware that M.I.A. had flipped off cameras during her guest rap on "Give Me All Your Luvin'" until long after she had left the stage.
"When I left, I found out about it in the elevator actually on my way to go to the car to go to the airport," Madonna said during a phone interview with On Air with Ryan Seacrest. "And I was really surprised. I didn't know anything about it."
[Click here to listen to Madonna's entire interview with Ryan Seacrest]
The recording artist said Friday morning she was unhappy with M.I.A.'s decision because it detracted from the positive message of her show, which ended with a glowing banner that said "World Peace."
"I mean, I wasn't happy about it, because for me - I mean I understand it's kind of punk rock and everything - but you know, to me, there was such a feeling of love and good energy and positivity," Madonna explained to Seacrest. "It just, it seemed negative."
The singer decried M.I.A.'s showmanship as childish and "out of place."
"It's such a teenager, kind of, you know, in a way, kind of irrelevant thing to do in one respect," she said. "But on the other hand … there was such a feeling of love and unity there. What was the point?"
Madonna's performance was a key part of the Super Bowl KLVI broadcast, which was declared the most-viewed TV telecast of all time, with a mammoth 111.3 million viewers, according to Entertainment Weekly. Seacrest reported more than 10,000 tweets per second were sent during Madonna's performance.
Despite the M.I.A. mishap, Madonna closed the show with a bang, as she welcomed "Forget You" singer and Voice judge Cee-Lo Green on stage for a stirring duet of her classic, "Like a Prayer," which was backed by a full choir.
"I love Cee-Lo. I've always loved his voice ... I feel like he's somebody really up-and-coming, interesting," Madonna told Seacrest.
The singer called the critically acclaimed collaboration a "religious experience."
"I was overwhelmed," she said. "It was actually very emotional for me, I almost started crying."
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'MDNA,' Madonna's new album featuring lead single "Give Me All Your Luvin'" is set to hit store shelves March 26. (Source: CNN)
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