felt that it resembles the sound of Madonna's early albums. When comparing Spiceworld to their debut studio album Spice (1996), Jim Farber of the New York Daily News was unimpressed, but thought that the production had more variety. He labelled the song's sound as "ersatz Spanish" in a manner that is similar to "La Isla Bonita". Commercial performance Upon its release as a single, "Viva Forever" debuted atop the UK Singles Chart, becoming the Spice Girls' seventh chart-topper and their first number one as a foursome. The single sold 100,000 copies in the first three days of release and 277,000 in the first week, outselling its closest competitors by about four to one. The song spent two weeks at number one, nine weeks in the top 40, 13 weeks in the top 75, and was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for selling 600,000 copies in the UK in August 1998. As of July 2021, it has sold 798,000 combined sales in the country. "Viva Forever" was commercially successful in the rest of Europe. It reached number two on the Eurochart Hot 100, while peaking inside the top 10 in Austria, Belgium (French chart), Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland, and inside the top 20 in Belgium (Flemish chart), France, and Norway. The song was also a radio hit across the continent, reaching the top position of the European Radio Top 50 for four weeks, topping the airplay charts in the German-speaking countries, and the UK; and peaking inside the top five in Hungary, Italy, Poland, and Scandinavia. "Viva Forever" peaked at number nine in Taiwan during the last week of July 1998. On 10 August 1998, the song debuted on the Canadian RPM singles chart at number 81, later reaching a peak position of number four in its eighth week. It ended at the 57th position on the year-end chart. The song debuted on the Official New Zealand Music Chart at number one on 23 August 1998, becoming the group's second number one and eighth top ten single in the country. It stayed at the top for two weeks, while remained on the chart for 11 weeks, and was certified platinum by the Recorded Music NZ (RMNZ) for sales of 30,000 units in October 1998. "Viva "Forever" debuted on the ARIA Singles Chart at number 59 on 30 August 1998. It peaked at