 Charles Merwin of Stylus Magazine described his vocals as "yelping".In the United States, "The Sweet Escape" debuted at number 93 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 on the issue dated December 30, 2006.Following Stefani and Akon's performance of the song on "American Idol" in late March 2007, it peaked at number two on the chart dated April 14 behind Akon's subsequent single "Don't Matter", selling 140,200 downloads during that week.