Who's Nina "The Philippine Soul Siren"

Marifil Niña Girado or more popularly known as Nina, is a pop singer from the Philippines. She is dubbed as the country’s “Soul Siren”. Has released Multi-platinum Record Sales and Seven number 1 Singles in the Philippines with some singles topping the Charts. She has released four albums and performs regularly at different Bars such as Bagaberde Grill, Hard Rock Cafe, 19 East, Club-O and on television through ASAP 08 and other shows. She is also known for her vocal belting and her ability to sing in whistle register and do coloratura passage.

BeginningsNina was 17 when she became one of the vocalists for the X’s, a show band working the club circuit. She honed her skills in clubs such as Strumm’s, Limits, Ratsky and Fashion Café, doing old rhythm and blues hits and Sergio Mendes numbers. Shortly after, she was hired by Big Thing, Randy Santiago’s band. This was followed by a six-month stint in Silk. She also become one of the members of the MYMP group, and finally, the Essence.
Although she was already a fulltime working professional, Nina continued her studies, taking up and finishing accounting at Miriam College. At one time, she had thought of taking up law, but by the time she graduated, this had been replaced by another dream: to become a solo recording artist.

She put together a three-song demo which included her cover of “Foolish Heart” and sent it to Warner Music Philippines. The label recognized the potential. It wasn’t long before Marifil Niña Girado was transformed into Nina.

Heaven (2002)In 2002, Heaven was released accompanied by Nina’s debut single with the same name. “Heaven” became a modest hit, peaking within the Top 10 for weeks. Though it failed to top the Philippines Singles Chart, it paved the way for Nina’s breakthrough as an OPM artist. “2nd Floor” was sent as a radio single to boost album sales and increase popularity. Though the song was not commercially released, it was hailed as the Best R&B Song in the 2003 Awit Awards and allowed Nina to bag the Best New Artist Award as well. “Jealous” was released as the next single from the album and it became Nina’s first single to top the charts. Due to its extreme reception, Nina became a radio favorite as her songs gained more airplay. Also, she won the Best New Artist Award in the 2003 MTV Pilipinas Awards due to the single’s breakthrough. In mid-2003, she released “Foolish Heart,” which became her second chart-topper. The song became one of the most-played singles of that year, and was considered to be one of the main reasons why the acoustic phenomenon became very much popular. “Loving You” became the fourth and last single off the album and also reached the Top 10. A re-release of the album was issued enabling Heaven its double platinum status. Included in this release were “Talk To Me,” the acoustic version of “Jealous,” and the Nescafé promo single, “Simula.”

Smile (2003)During the last quarter of 2003, Nina released Smile alongside the first single “Make You Mine.” It became Nina’s third number one single, allowing Nina to be the first (and only) female artist to have three number one singles in a year. In 2004, “A Girl Can Dream” was released as the second single and featured labelmate Christian Bautista as her love interest in the video. The song peaked in the Top 5, thoguh proved to be less successful than other Nina singles. “Sayang Naman” was the first Tagalog single Nina released and became the last release from the album. It reached the Top 10 and is considered to be the least successful Nina single to date. A radio-only single was released in the form of the Madonna original “Shoo-Be-Doo” allowing Smile to reach Gold status.
Nina sings Dianne WarrenIn 2004, Girado recorded “I Don’t Want To Be Your Friend,” written by award-winning composer Diane Warren (it had previously been recorded by Cyndi Lauper on her album A Night to Remember.) The song was number one in the Philippines for eight weeks. Girado’s version of the song was included on the compilation Love Songs: Dianne Warren, which was certified gold in the Philippines.

Nina Live! (2005)Though Smile proved to be less successful than her debut album, Nina Live! proved to be both critically and commercially successful, earning platinum status in only its first three week of release. “Love Moves In Mysterious Ways” was solicited to radio in February and became a monster hit by the summer of 2005. Peaking at the number one spot for twelve weeks, it became the most successful Nina single to date, also becoming the longest number one OPM single not only in 2005, but in the 2000’s era. A second single was released in “Through The Fire,” a Chaka Khan original, which also peaked at number one for a week. “Constantly” was issued as the third single which peaked within the Top 3, and a recorded version of “I Love You Goodbye” was released as the fourth and final single of the live album. As of 2006, Nina Live! is certified 8x Platinum. Also in 2005, Nina embarked on her sold-out major concert entitled Nina Live! at the Araneta Coliseum. A Nina Live! DVD was released by the end of 2005 which included the live recordings at the PHI Bar, both Nina biography and discography, as well the video for the number one single, “I Don’t Want To Be Your Friend.”
At the height of Nina’s success, Goldilock’s Bakeshop lauched its 40th Anniversary in 2006. In its anniversary, the company decided to tie-in with Warner Music Philippines in releasing a CD single enttled Araw Mo from which the jingle would be sung by the Soul Siren herself. “Araw Mo” was released in time of the 40th Anniversary and became a very popular jingle solicited for radio promo. Also, a commercial was released in lieu of the CD single.

Nina (2006)After the success of Nina Live!, Nina began recording new material for her self-titled fourth album. After critical acclaim and commercial success, Nina decided to release a self-titled album due to the fact that she has already established her name as an artist and would like the public to know her as who she really is. “I Do” was the first single, and was Nina’s first original single after the Nina Live era. The song entered the Top 10 but failed to establish the same impact as her previous hits. It was until “Someday” that Nina would regain her next major hit, a song which was composed by then current-boyfriend Nyoy Volante. The song became Nina’s seventh number one hit, peaking at number one for eight weeks. “I Didn’t Mean To Make You Mine” was released as the third single in 2007. As of April 2007, the album is certified Gold and before the year end the album reached Platinum status and expected to reach double platinum status as 2008 starts.

Album Certifications

Nina Heaven Double Platinum

First Kiss
Heaven
2nd Floor
Jealous
Loving You (Radio Edit)
Foolish Heart
Greatest Gift Of All
Kung Ibibigay Sa’Yo
Heaven (Boywonder Remix)
Foolish Heart (Vibe Mix)

Nina Smile Certified Gold

Make You Mine
A Girl Can Dream
What If
Sayang Naman
Shoo-bee-doo
Goodnite But Not Goodbye
I’ll Always Stay In Love This Way
Still Gonna Be
Di Ba
Can’t Say I Love You
Ring Me
Smile

Nina Live! 8x Platinum

Sweet Thing
Love Moves In Mysterious Ways
Stay (With Me)
Burn (feat. Christian Bautista)
Through The Fire
Fall For You
Coloured Kisses (feat. Trapp Of Dice & K9)
Cool With You
Constantly
At Your Best
Sunlight
The Closer I Get To You (Feat. Thor)
Steep
I Love You Goodbye
I Can’t Tell You Why
Piano In The Dark
Anything For You
Time To Say Goodbye

Nina Certified Platinum

I Do
Ooh Boy
Where Is Love
I Can’t Make You Love Me
I Need Your Love
I Didn’t Mean To Make You Mine
Love Is Contagious
What If
Is It Over
Someday
Araw Mo (Bonus Track)

Nina sings Very Manilow Platinum

"Somewhere Down The Road"
"Even Now"
"One of These Days"
"Weekend in New England"
"If I Should Love Again"
"What If" (Acoustic Version)
"Someday" (Band Version)
"Collide" (Xenoa-OST)
"The Christmas Song"

Nina sings the Hits of Diane Warren (Certified Gold)

"I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing"
"I Turn To You"
"Love Will Lead You Back"
"Because You Loved Me"
"Have You Ever"
"Un-break My Heart"
"There You'll Be"
"I'll Never Get Over You"
"Blue Eyes Blue"
"How Can We Be Lovers"
"When I See You Smile"
"Saving Forever For You"
"How Do I Live"
"I Could Not Ask For More"
"I Don't Want To Be Your Friend" (Bonus track)

Awards
Best Performance by a Female Artist in a concert/ Aliw Awards 2007
People’s Choice Song of The Year- Someday written by Nyoy Volante/ Awit Awards 2007
People’s Choice Favorite Artis/ Awit Awards 2007
People’s Choice Best Female Performance- Someday/ Awit Awards 2007
R&B Artist of the Year / 2007 Philippine Hip-Hop Awards
Best Urban Video-I Do dir. by Treb Montreras/MYX Music Awards 2007
USTv Student Choice of music video (Someday)/2007
OPM Female Artist of the Year/RX 93.1 2006
Best Selling Album of the Year: Nina Live!/Awit Awards 2006
Best Performance By A Duet: Nina And Thor for The Closer I Get To You/Awit Awards 2006
Favorite Collaboration: Burn by Nina with Christian Bautista/MYX Music Awards2006
2005 Best Female Acoustic Artist/National Consumers Quality Awards
Best Female Performer in Hotel, Music Lounges and Bars/Aliw Awards 2004
Favorite New Female Artist/Awit Awards 2003
Best Rnb Song (2nd Floor)/Awit Awards 2003
Favorite New Artist/MTV Pilipinas 2003
Favorite Female Artist/2003 Teens Voice Awards
OPM Female Artist of the Year (2003)/RX 93.1
OPM Artist of the Year (2003)/Magic 89.9
OPM Song of the Year (Jealous)/Magic 89.9
Favorite Female Artist/Candy Rap Awards

Recognitions
Shall We Dance Monthly Champion (November)
ASAP Platinum Circle 2007 (Nina- platinum) and (Nina Live- 8x platinum)
ASAP 24K Awards (Nina- gold)
ASAP Platinum Circle 2006 (Nina Live- 6x platinum)
ASAP Platinum Circle 2005 (Nina Live- 5x platinum)
No. 1 Female R&B Singer in the Philippines/2004 Philippine Business Excellence Award/Awards and Recognition Association of the Philippines
Artist of the Month (January, 2004)/MTV Philippines
Artist of the Month (January, 2004)/97.1 WLS FM
Singing Ambassador of Goodwill 2004/Center for Pop Music Philippines, Inc.
One of Women to Watch in 2004/Mega Magazine