Nina Girado

Biography

Marifil Niña Barinos Girado-Enriquez (born November 1, 1980), known mononymously as Nina, is a Filipino singer and record producer. She made her recording debut in 2002 after signing a recording contract with Warner Music Philippines. Her first two studio albums produced the chart-topping singles "Jealous", "Foolish Heart" and "Make You Mine", and earned her the Favorite New Artist award on both Awit Awards and MTV Pilipinas Music Awards. She established her position in the local music industry in 2005 after releasing her third album Nina Live! which was certified diamond by the Philippine Association of the Record Industry (PARI). The album yielded her most successful single, "Love Moves in Mysterious Ways", and her biggest solo concert to date. In 2006, she released her eponymous studio album which earned her eight Awit Award nominations. The album's second single "Someday" achieved commercial success, and gained popularity in South Korea and various Asian countries. Later, she received criticism for releasing too many covers, and was involved in a financial conflict against her ex-boyfriend Nyoy Volante's parents which was eventually resolved under legal process. She regained success in 2009 after touring with the Sessionistas, along with the release of her last studio album under Warner, Renditions of the Soul. She signed a recording deal with Universal Records in 2010, and represented her country in the Pattaya International Music Festival a year later. In 2013, she released her seventh studio album All Good under her new record label, Viva Records. She was one of Spotify's most-streamed female OPM artists in 2018 and 2020. Referred to as the "Asia's Diamond Soul Siren", she is known for her wide vocal range and her signature use of the whistle register. She was recognized as R&B Artist of the Year by Philippine Business Excellence Award in 2004 and by Philippine Hip-Hop Awards in 2007. She was cited as the artist who popularized the acoustic phenomenon in the Philippines, and was awarded Best Female Acoustic Artist by the National Consumers Quality Awards in 2005. Mega listed her as one of the Women to Watch in 2004. Her album Nina Live! is the fourth best-selling certified album, best-selling live album, and best-selling album of the 2000s in the Philippines. She holds the record as the first female OPM artist to receive a diamond certification by the PARI. In 2009, she was named as the best-selling female recording artist by the Box Office Entertainment Awards. Aside from her commercial achievements, she has won ten Awit Awards, two Aliw Awards, two Myx Music Awards and the Special Achievement Award by Wave 89.1 Urban Music Awards in 2011.

== Early life and education == Marifil Niña Girado was born on November 1, 1980, in Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines. She is the third child of Filbert Girado Sr., a businessman and member of the Bayanihan Boys Choir, and Maria Daulet (née Barinos), a nurse who plays piano. She was raised in Quezon City together with her three siblings Dewanne, who is member of the band Lipstick, King, who is also a singer, and Patrick, who is a musical director. When Nina was about to turn five years old, she started singing to a Lea Salonga single she heard on the radio and her father noticed. After seeing the potential in his daughter, Filbert trained Nina's singing skills. Like the traditional technique of vocalization, she was submerged into a drum of water while belting out her high notes. Later, she was declared as daily winner on GMA Lunchdate's "Bulilit Jamboree" in 1985. In 1991, she became seven-week winner on Philippine competition show, Tanghalan ng Kampeon, with her interpretations of "Better Days" and "Love Takes Time". Filbert's plans for Nina changed when she grew older. Instead of a professional music career, he wanted his daughter to earn a college degree and to join him in the United States to find work. She studied Accountancy at Miriam College since she was good in numbers. Her father insisted that she would take up Law as a latter course. Due to her love for singing, she went against her father's wishes. At seventeen, she became a vocalist of the XS band. He eventually gave up on trying to stop her, and just told her to maintain good grades. She did well in her studies and became a consistent dean's lister. In 2000, she finished Accountancy while performing for different bands including The Big Thing, MYMP, Silk and the Essence. After college, she recorded an amateur demo CD with the help of a friend. It was composed of three tracks including her rendition of Steve Perry's "Foolish Heart", "Breathe Again" and "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)." The demo was recorded in a home studio with only a guitar for accompaniment. Her brother King brought her demo to different recording labels. Ricky Ilacad, who was managing director of Warner Music Philippines at the time, listened to the recordings and immediately planned to sign her up even without seeing or hearing her in person. Two months after her father died of a heart attack in the U.S., Nina signed her first recording contract with Warner.

== Career ==

=== 2002–2004: Career beginnings, Heaven and Smile === In August 2002, Nina released her debut album under Warner Music, entitled Heaven, alongside her first single of the same title. The album is inspired by contemporary R&B and pop music, and it was well received by critics, with The Philippine Star stating "Heaven is quite a package. Production is sleek and Nina's delivery, smooth [...] it is never heavy nor frenetic. It is instead used as a stable base for Nina's sweet but definitely multi-octave singing voice." The lead single, "Heaven", did not really become a commercial hit despite peaking inside the top ten of Philippine charts. In December 2002, "2nd Floor" was released as a radio-only single. Even though the song was not commercially released, it charted inside the top ten and won her the Best R&B Song award on the 16th Annual Awit Awards in 2003. "Jealous" was released as the second official single and it became Nina's first number one hit, topping various Philippine charts for three weeks. It also allowed her to grab the Best New Artist award on both Awit Awards and MTV Pilipinas Music Awards in 2003. The third commercial single is her acoustic version of Steve Perry's "Foolish Heart", which became her second number one single as it charted even better than her previous releases. The song was a critical acclaim, being described by critics as "proof of Nina's musicality." "Loving You", a Ric Segreto original, became the last commercial single from Heaven. It did not top the local charts, but peaked inside the top five. In October 2003, the album was re-released when it reached the double platinum mark. In December 2003, Nina released her second studio album, Smile, accompanied by its lead single, "Make You Mine". According to The Philippine Star, the album's sound is "bigger and bolder" compared to Heaven, consisting of upbeat rhythmic jams and powerful sentimental ballads. Philippine Daily Inquirer commented that Smile is a "smoothly-produced album, polished enough to give it an even keel, ensuring smooth sailing all throughout." "Make You Mine" was described as a "rich harmonic chemistry of Nina's mesmerizing vocals and hypnotic urban-style beats with a blend of funky strings, an upbeat R&B piece that offers a blissful listening experience." It became her third number-one single, making Nina the first female OPM artist to have three number-one singles in a span of one year. The following single, "A Girl Can Dream", features her labelmate Christian Bautista in the music video. The song peaked inside the top five of charts. "Sayang Naman" is the first Tagalog single that she released and it became the last commercial single from the album. It reached the top ten of local charts, but is considered to be her least successful single at the time. Smile gave Nina her songwriting debut with the song "Can't Say I Love You". The song was described as a "sensually engaging ballad." In a later interview, she revealed that while recording "I'll Always Stay in Love This Way", she was going through a recent break-up contrary to the song's context. She stated "I couldn’t sing. I was crying nonstop, so I called the A&R director and said I couldn’t do it because my tears wouldn’t stop". In early 2004, Nina became part of the recording for the song "Biyahe Tayo" which was used for the WOW Philippines...Biyahe Tayo! campaign, promoting Philippine tourism. Among other artists were Lea Salonga, Sharon Cuneta, Francis Magalona and the APO Hiking Society. In August 2004, she staged a back-to-back residency at the Music Museum with Nyoy Volante entitled El Niño, La Niña which ended after a month and five shows. In November 2004, she was chosen by American songwriter Diane Warren to record the Cyndi Lauper original "I Don't Want to Be Your Friend", which eventually became a chart-topping hit. It was released as single for the Asian version of Warren's love songs compilation, Diane Warren Presents Love Songs. In the same month, Warner Music Philippines released a Christmas album which features Nina and the label's most-requested singers at the time, namely Christian Bautista, Kitchie Nadal, Dice & K9, Paolo Santos, Thor and Artstrong. Following the album's release, they staged a major concert as a group, held at the Folk Arts Theater entitled Pop Ko 'To! The All-Star, All-Hits Concert. In the same year, she appeared on the debut albums of Bautista and her brother, King.

=== 2005–2007: Commercial success with Nina Live! and Nina ===

In 2005, Nina temporarily broke away from the urban-influenced sound to record covers of classic love songs. She came out with her first live album, Nina Live!. The album is composed of classic love songs from the 1970s to the 1990s, which she recorded live at the PHI Resto and Bar in Metro Manila on January 30, 2005. According to her, the idea of a live album started when Warner saw her performing on different bars and lounges. The label told her, "Why not put it in CD form or in a DVD, so that the people could take home [her] show." The first single, "Love Moves in Mysterious Ways", was released in February 2005 along with the album. It peaked at number one on local charts for twelve consecutive weeks, becoming Nina's biggest hit to date. Before the second single was released, Nina Live! was already certified 3× Platinum by the Philippine Association of the Record Industry (PARI), eventually selling 90,000 units in the Philippines. "Through the Fire" is the second official single which also peaked at number one for a week. The song features her highest recorded vocal register in full chest voice to date. "Constantly" was released as the third official single and was immediately followed by the final commercial single, "I Love You Goodbye", which later charted at number 3 in the short-lived Billboard Philippines Catalog Chart. Nina Live! sold over 300,000 copies in the Philippines in 2009, certifying 10× Platinum (Diamond) by the PARI and becoming the fourth best-selling album in the Philippines. It is also the best-selling live album and best-selling album of the 2000s. The album allowed Nina to become the first female artist in the Philippines to receive a Diamond certification. Overall, she is the third artist next to Jose Mari Chan and Eraserheads. Aside from outstanding commercial performance, Nina Live! was well received by OPM critics. In a review, Titik Pilipino stated "this album only proves that Nina can do wonderfully with covers." Nina Live! was later released in home video, and was followed by a concert at the Araneta Coliseum. In 2005, Nina was ranked 75th on FHM Philippines' 100 Sexiest Women in the World. In the same year, she collaborated with American singer Joe Pizzulo in his album, All the Best. In February 2006, she recorded the theme song for I Will Always Love You, which eventually became the highest-grossing movie of GMA Films at the time. On June 2, 2006, Nina launched her first solo residency at the Music Museum entitled Very Manilow, a Barry Manilow tribute concert series. The month-long residency consisted of eight shows, two nights a week for four weeks and featured Christian Bautista, Jed Madela, Nyoy Volante and Troy Montero as guest acts. This was immediately followed by another eight-show residency entitled Nina... Gold (Precious OPM Hits) where she performed classic OPM songs from the 1980s to 2000s. Guest acts include Nonoy Zuñiga, Gary Granada, Noel Cabangon and Volante. The first show was staged on November 16 at the Music Museum. In the same year, she was selected as spokesperson for Goldilocks Bakeshop's 40th anniversary along with the release of promotional single "Araw Mo". She also appeared on Hotsilog: The ASAP Hotdog Compilation with her cover of Hotdog's seductive ballad "Lumapit Ka". Nina released her self-titled fourth album in August 2006. She decided to name the album after herself considering that she already established her name as an artist, and was willing to share more to her listeners. She admitted that Nyoy Volante was an inspiration for the album, saying that his compositions "were just so beautiful and inspiring that eventually I was encouraged to create an all-original album." Titik Pilipino praised her in an album review, saying "Nina does almost everything right [...] She's more refined, polished." On the November–December 2006 issue of MYX Mag, Mike Luis of Freestyle reacted positively to the album, stating "The mid-tempo tracks are groove-worthy, the slow jams are sexy, and the two remakes were nicely done." "I Do", a song that is heavily influenced by R&B-dance, was released as the album's lead single. Shortly after, the second single "Someday" was released and topped the local charts for eight consecutive weeks. The song became both a commercial and critical acclaim, with Philippine Daily Inquirer commenting " the introspective, traffic-stopping 'Someday' that boasts of a rich melody and Nina's emotive panache." In 2007, she released the third and final single, "I Can't Make You Love Me", which became a success, as well. In a review, Philippine Daily Inquirer stated "Bonnie Raitt's anthemic song for the lovelorn is hard to top, but Nina gives a beautifully dressed-down version." In August 2007, Nina recorded and released "Collide", a theme song for the sci-fi indie film Xenoa which was directed by Sean Lim. The song was nominated for Best Song Written for Movie/TV/Stage Play on the 2008 Awit Awards. On September 28, 2007, she re-released her eponymous album, this time, entitled Nina (Special Limited Edition) - Featuring the Hits of Barry Manilow. The re-issue consists of two discs—the standard edition of Nina and a nine-track disc which features her covers of Barry Manilow classics. This concept was inspired by her 2006 eight-show residency at the Music Museum, entitled Very Manilow. "Somewhere Down the Road" and "If I Should Love Again" were released as singles and were both commercially successful. Nina (Special Limited Edition) was eventually certified Platinum by the PARI, finishing 2× Platinum combined with the standard release. One month later, Warner Music and Club Myx released a remix album of Nina's popular songs which were re-invented by DJ Dense Modesto. It was titled Nina in the Mix: The Dense Modesto Remixes. In November 2007, she appeared in QTV-11's documentary TV show Balikbayan where she visited her hometown Roxas, Capiz. In the same year, she was featured in Thor's studio album, Soul Obsessions... Duets with Thor, performing a cover duet of Mariah Carey's power ballad "Whenever You Call".

=== 2008–2010: Professional and personal setbacks, and Renditions of the Soul === In 2008, Nina released her fourth studio album, a cover album entitled Nina Sings the Hits of Diane Warren, which consists of classic love ballads written by award-winning songwriter Diane Warren. The album was certified Gold by the PARI one week after its commercial release. Eventually, it reached Platinum status with 30,000 units sold. Its official singles include the Aerosmith original, "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", and the Faith Hill original, "There You'll Be", which Nina describes as a "thank you" to her fans. She expressed her gratitude in an interview, saying "I still have much to fulfill [...] I owe it to my fans [...] showering me with love and unbridled affection." The album was panned by critics, with Titik Pilipino stating "To be honest, what [they]'ve been expecting at this point in Nina's career is an album of original compositions suited to her voice [...] she didn't have to shout and be a vocal Chinese acrobat." OPM critics reacted negatively to the kind of musical process she was doing, noticing that her most popular albums, Nina Live! and Nina Featuring the Hits of Barry Manilow, contain covers. Her most popular singles, "Love Moves in Mysterious Ways", "Foolish Heart" and "Through the Fire", are also revivals. In an interview with the entertainment press at Red Box, Nina defended herself, saying "It's fulfilling to sing any song, maybe a cover or an original song, just the fact that I'm singing is fulfilling enough." She further stated that her fans were the ones who requested it. In the same year, she was featured on the self-titled debut album of Gabby Concepcion.

In January 2009, ASAP, a musical variety show on ABS-CBN where Nina has been a regular performer since 2003, paired her with other artists who are also in-demand performers in various bars and restaurants. Among them are Duncan Ramos, Aiza Seguerra, MYMP, Sitti and Richard Poon, forming a group called the "Sessionistas." The Sessionistas became the most-requested jamming segment on the show, leading the ABS-CBN management to stage the ASAP Sessionistas Live concert at the Araneta Coliseum. The concert at the big dome was sold-out, and it was followed with other sold-out concerts in Cebu City, Batangas City and in their U.S. tour. On May 8, 2009, Nina was invited as special guest on STAR World's variety talk show, Asia Uncut, making her the second and last Filipino to appear in the show, next to Lea Salonga. During her interview, she was officially declared as the "Asia's Soul Siren." In 2009, Nina publicly announced that she would file an estafa (fraud) case against ex-boyfriend Nyoy Volante's parents, Evangeline and Oliver, due to failure in fully settling their debts amounting to ₱1.4 million in total. She decided to finally take legal action after the couple broke the compromise agreement between the two parties. In September 2009, Nina released her fifth studio album, Renditions of the Soul, another cover album which came from her special weekly acoustic radio show of the same title which aired on Wave 89.1 during Friday and Sunday evenings. The album gave her record-producing debut when she produced all the album's tracks herself. It was well received by critics, with Manila Bulletin stating "The 17-track album is more emotionally subtle, yet the songs just have as equally powerful messages like her previous hits [...] Nina's singing perfectly renders the message of every selection: Love, longing and the purity of emotional surrender." "I'm Yours" was released in May 2010 as the only commercial single from the album. Warner held a sing-along contest for Nina fans and the winner got the chance to be on the single's music video. However, the single had no promotion, since Nina has left the label during its release. The video barely features her, and just shows some of her photos from the Renditions of the Soul album photo shoot. The album was commercially successful, being able to reach Platinum status in July 2010 despite having the least promotion. After receiving a Diamond certification by the PARI for Nina Live! in October 2009, Sarah Geronimo's fans protested Nina getting the award ahead of Geronimo. Nina immediately stated in an interview that she deserves the award, and that there was no conflict between her and Geronimo. In November 2009, she revealed that she is engaged with her non-showbiz boyfriend, Coy Enriquez. Early in 2010, she had sold-out concerts with multi-diamond awardee Jose Mari Chan, Freestyle, Side A, Richard Poon, Sam Milby and The Company, including her two-night solo concert at the Music Museum entitled Nina... The Diamond Soul Siren. On June 30, 2010, she performed the song "Bagong Pilipinas", together with other artists, on the inauguration of Philippine President Benigno Aquino III. She wore a green Filipiniana dress for the event. On July 9, 2010, she performed with South Border and Kris Lawrence on Usher's concert in Manila as a front act. On September 11, 2010, she performed live on Billy Crawford's 25 B.C. concert at the Music Museum as a special guest. In October 2010, Warner released her four-disc box set greatest hits compilation, entitled Diamond: Greatest Hits 2002-2010. Her cover of "Love Will Lead You Back" was used as the album's only single. In December 2010, she performed "Hagkan", which was originally recorded by Sharon Cuneta, as theme song for ABS-CBN TV series Sabel. In 2010, she was named as the best-selling female recording artist of 2009 by the Guillermo Mendoza Memorial Scholarship Foundation. In the same year, she also appeared on the albums of Jay R, Kris Aquino and Poon.