and, nine years down the line, Mel C is still taking on all the money notes, adding some real oomph to the middle 8". Reception Critical response "Headlines (Friendship Never Ends)" has received generally mixed reviews from music critics. Talia Kraines, writing for BBC Music was positive in her review, and called the song a "classic Spice ballad". According to a writer from The Daily Collegian, "for the naysayers, who say the Spice Girls time has passed, two new tunes, "Headlines (Friendship Never Ends)" and "Voodoo" may grab your attention". Nick Levine from Digital Spy commented in his positive review, "'Headlines' won't be the first tune you skip to on the Spice Girls' Greatest Hits album – or, in all honesty, the tenth – but, as its pretty, gently melodic chorus surges gracefully, the feeling that comes over you is unmistakable. Nostalgia's a funny old thing, isn't it?" NME gave it a mixed review, and said "new ballad "Headlines" is functional but lacks a certain, ahem, zig-a-zig aaaaaaargh." Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic gave it a mixed review, commenting that, along with "Voodoo", it was "forgettable" and a "sleepy" song. The reviewer also said that the song "isn't as self-referential or clever as its title suggests". However, Rosie Swash from The Guardian provided a negative review, stating, "the Spice Girls have never been the most sincere bunch of women and between an entirely forgettable melody and lyrics that go round in circles of crap about reaching into your soul and the time being now or never", completing that the biggest sound the song made was "the echo of total hollowness". Commercial performance "Headlines (Friendship Never Ends)" was first released in the United Kingdom. The song debuted at number 20 on 17 November 2007 on the UK Singles Chart, based on digital downloads. Two weeks later, the song climbed to its peak position of number 11, becoming the group's first single to miss the top two. Nevertheless, the single managed to reach number three on the UK Physical Singles Chart. The song debuted and peaked at number 90 on the US Billboard Hot 100, staying on the charts only for the week of 24 November 2007. "Headlines (Friendship Never Ends)" debuted at number 42 on the Canadian Hot 100, spending one week on the chart. The song debuted at number 67 on the Austrian Singles Chart, the group's lowest-charting single in