Kristin Chenoweth, ‘I Want Somebody’ – Song Review

Actress Kristin Chenoweth’s turn at country music comes with the hope that she’ll be able to carry her award-winning talents from Broadway to country radio. Sadly, the only award ‘I Want Somebody’ will earn is a rotten tomato.

Chenoweth’s voice is reminiscent of a movie character, but the Chippets aren’t a group one usually hopes to emulate. Her delivery is full of energy, but she packs an album’s worth of lyrics into one three-minute pop-country song: “I want someone I can fight with / And then make up all night with / Someone who makes me mad and makes me laugh and has my back through it all / Someone who loves my flaws and loves me ’cause I’m crazy.”

As the one-time star of NBC’s ‘The West Wing’ pushes toward the chorus, it sounds like she’s getting a little help belting out the more challenging phrases. There is the scent of auto-tune technology, which has never gone over well with the country audience. “I wants somebody I can b—– about / I want somebody I can’t live without / I want somebody who can make me insane, completely crazy,” she sings.

The actress clearly knows how to sing and impress audiences; she has a Tony and Emmy Award to prove it. Chenoweth would be wise to ease off the Red Bull in the future, however. At the bridge — when she sings “Someone who knows when to stay away / Knows how to take my breath away / Knows that no one could love me better” — she attempts to do just that, but at this point she’s dropping the car into first gear at 9,000 RPMs.

‘I Want Somebody’ is a bad performance of a bad song. Chenoweth would be wise to rethink her approach to country music, as none of her natural charm finds room to emerge from beneath this hail storm of noise.

Listen to Kristin Chenoweth, ‘I Want Somebody’

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