Spears defends parenting skills

When asked by American Idol host Ryan Seacrest on his Los Angeles show if she was doing all she could for her children, Spears said: "Oh, God yeah."

The singer is currently embroiled in a custody battle over her two young boys with ex-husband Kevin Federline.

"It's sad, how cruel the world can be. At the end of the day, you've just got to know in your heart you're doing the best you can," she said.

"I try not to let it get to me," she added, referring to recent media coverage.

Unsure

Federline has full custody of Sean Preston, aged two, and one-year-old Jayden James but Spears is allowed three monitored visits with them a week.

In Tuesday's ruling, Spears was granted two afternoons and one full night per week with her two sons.

But the pop star seemed unsure when asked by Seacrest how often she would have access to them.

"That's, like, all in the court. Stuff like that, my lawyers know all that stuff," she said.

Spears told Seacrest she did not do anything special to celebrate the release of Blackout, her first studio album in four years.

"We watched movies... had fried chicken," she said.

She said her favourite track on the album was Heaven on Earth.

The short telephone interview on radio station KIIS-FM was ended abruptly when her assistant Alli Sims told Seacrest that Spears had left to have a shower.

Detailed testimony was presented during the latest custody court ruling.

Spears' parenting coach Lisa Hacker concluded in her report that the singer loved her sons and that they were bonded to her.

But the report also criticised Spears, calling the atmosphere at her home "chaotic" and saying she rarely played with or spoke to the boys.

RELATED INTERNET LINKS
Britney Spears
KIIS-FM
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites