the song was "Usher-lite". Lawrence Ferber from the Windy City Times described "Shake It Off" as a "standout" track from the album. When discussing the track with Ferber, Carey described the song as her favorite from The Emancipation of Mimi: "Shake it off can apply to anything. Whatever personal dramas we go through, put that song on and you lose the anxiety or intensity of the moment. I'll listen to that song when I've just come out of an annoying meeting. I gotta shake this off." While Todd Burns from Stylus Magazine described it as "sultry", a writer from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram called it "lyrically crude" and "ghetto". Similarly, The Michigan Dailys Chris Gaerig criticized Carey's "airy vocals" and wrote "Carey sounds like a 13-year-old boy going through puberty, singing love songs to a grade school crush." Chart performance In the United States, "Shake It Off" entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 66, the week's highest debut. In its seventh week on the chart, it reached number two behind Carey's previous single, "We Belong Together," marking the first time a female lead artist occupied the top two positions of the Hot 100. "Shake It Off" was at the number two position for an additional five weeks after "We Belong Together" fell from number one (six weeks in total); it was subsequently held off the top spot by Kanye West's "Gold Digger". The song stayed within the Hot 100 for 26 weeks, and finished at number fifteen on the Billboard Year-End Chart. The single fared well on multiple Billboard component charts, reaching the top spot on the Mainstream Top 40 (Pop Songs) tally, and becoming her second consecutive number-one on the chart following "We Belong Together" as well as her sixth number-one overall. It peaked at number two on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, and number 27 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart. "Shake It Off" was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments of over 1,000,000 copies. "Shake It Off" was released throughout Australia and New Zealand as the third single from The Emancipation of Mimi in late 2005. In the United Kingdom, it was released as a double A-side along with "Get Your Number," the third single serviced to the United States at the same time. The single performed well outside the United States, reaching number five and six on the New Zealand