Spice Girls album of 1997 and was certified 8× Platinum by the IFPI for sales in excess of 8 million copies. That same month the Spice Girls attracted a crowd of 500,000 when they switched on the Christmas lights in Oxford Street, London. At the same time, Simon Fuller started to set up million pound sponsorship deals for the Spice Girls with Pepsi, Walkers, Impulse, Cadbury's and Polaroid. In December 1996, the group won three trophies at the "Smash Hits" awards at the London Arena, including best video for "Say You'll Be There". In January 1997, the group released "Wannabe" in the
Blame It on the Girls in the United States. It was a big hit in Japan where it hit #1 for a week. It is only the second international single to hit #1 in the Japanese Hot 100, provided by Billboard, after Leona Lewis's 2008 hit, "Bleeding Love". However, on its week of release it failed to crack the Top 40 in the UK, and only charted at #72, exactly the same as his last single "Rain"s peak position, making "Blame It on the Girls" his second consecutive single to miss the UK Top 40. Blame It on the Girls "Blame It on the Girls"