Nina still soulful after all these years

MANILA, Philippines — Singing live, with a band, has always been Asia’s Diamond Soul Siren Nina’s trademark and passion. She’s known for belting songs with her wide vocal range and signature use of the whistle register.

Nina can easily navigate the high and low notes of a song, given her multi-octave vocal range and she does it with such soul and emotion, hence her title Soul Siren.

Yes, Nina is a Birit Queen, just like Regine Velasquez and Lani Misalucha, among other amazing Pinay singers.

And in her 22-year career in the Philippine pop music industry, Nina has wonderfully preserved her singing voice.

A proof of that is during her birthday concert at Solaire’s The Theatre on Wednesday where she sang a dozen “hard-to-sing” songs, with a live band.

The concert, produced by the travel agency chain Ticket1 and dubbed “Love, Nina,” was jampacked.

“I’ve always loved to sing live in a band. There’s a thrill to singing live with a band, and I’m so happy that you could all make it here to my birthday concert,” Nina told the audience.

During the early days of her career, in the mid-2000s, she released her record-breaking album Nina Live!, which featured her original hits and covers.

Fans got a special treat, when Nina held a three-hour concert, with her special guests Ian Veneracion, David Pomeranz and Randy Santiago.

Nina shares the stage with guest artist, Ian Veneracion, who also performs an original song.

“I want to thank you for supporting me. The love I have for music and for you goes deeper as time goes by,” Nina told the audience.

She opened the show with a cover from Rihanna’s Diamonds, resplendent in a white gown, displaying her svelte figure. But it was her voice that stood out. Her voice, after all these years, was in fine form.

On a light note, Nina revealed to the audience that her gown was designed by her eight-year-old daughter Bella. She then sang her early hit Heaven. After that, she talked to the audience, turning a little nostalgic, about how she started her musical journey, singing when she was just 17 years old. From there on, she knew what she wanted to be in life, a singer.

“Let me take you back in time. Be with me in this beautiful career. It has been an exhilarating ride, thank you for being with me on this journey,” Nina told the audience, before doing a cover of a Ric Segreto song Loving You. Her acoustic version, which was included in one of her albums, became a certified hit. Nina also actually started acoustic singing in Philippine pop.

Her third song was her very first hit Jealous, and this time, asked the crowd to sing along with her.

Jealous is a chill song but it actually required Nina’s soaring vocals in the bridge part. In fact, all of Nina’s songs, which she all sang that night, required vocal calisthenics. What is commendable about Nina is how she skillfully wields her vocals to conform to the demands of difficult songs.

She then impressed the crowd with her next song, her cover of Steve Perry’s Foolish Heart. This was one of her hit songs in the past where she owned the song through her melismatic singing.

American singer-songwriter David Pomeranz is another guest performer.

Photos courtesy of Ticket1

That night, in her own rendition, Nina effortlessly navigated the high and low notes of the song. There was not a time when she frayed or got off-key. Kudos to Nina for preserving her voice.

After Foolish Heart, it was an Olympic vocal showcase, with covers like AeroSmith’s I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing or Chaka Khan’s Through the Fire, where her voice just kept on soaring. One of the highlights of Nina’s concert was her Mariah Carey’s renditions of Emotions, Against all Odds, (Take a Look at Me Now) and I Can Make it Through the Rain.

This is the part where she really impressed the audience. She was every bit of a chanteuse, complete with her sexy outfits. Nina counts Mariah as one of her biggest musical influences.

Both are gifted with multi-octave vocal range. In fact, Nina did some of the whistles in Emotions. Another highlight and top favorite part of the concert was when Nina sang her ballads. Unknown to many, Someday was a hit not only here in the country but also in South Korea, where it was covered by top K-pop artists. Nina was a favorite singer in South Korea. She regarded Someday as a “pang-move on” song from a heartbreak.

Before that song, she crooned I Love You, Goodbye, which she called her “pang-breakup song,” her humor delighting the audience.

“Minsan mga ex tumatawag pa after break-up, at dapat huwag nyo na sagutin, kasi baka utangan pa kayo nyan,” Nina said, exhorting laughter from the crowd.

After mesmerizing the audience with Someday, she introduced her next song, which is the “pag may nahanap na song” or when you are in that falling in love again phase, Love Moves in Mysterious Ways, which was originally sung by Julia Fordham.

Love Moves is also one of Nina’s greatest hits. While singing Love Moves, she asked the audience to light up their phones.

Nina's mentor and discoverer Randy Santiago lends his presence to the birthday concert.

“It’s so beautiful, I want to cry but not yet because sa next na kakantahin ko,” Nina said.

After that, she sang Through the Fire, a very challenging song to sing but Nina did it with such aplomb.

Nina actually outdid herself that night, with all the birit songs she crooned on her concert.

Completing her birthday concert, was performances from special guests, starting with David Pomeranz, the singer behind the immortal classic and prom song King and Queen of Hearts. The crowd got excited when Nina introduced his next guest, the very handsome actor Ian Veneracion.

Unknown to many, Ian is a musician and for the show, he sang an original song and played the guitar.

Solicitous to the audience, Ian went down to the stage and let concertgoers kiss, hug him and take selfies while singing Ed Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud. Afterwards Nina and Ian sang Baby, I Love Your Way. Her last and third guest was her mentor and discoverer, Randy Santiago.

Santiago sang disco songs to enliven the crowd a bit with Maroon 5’s Moves Like Jagger. At 64, Randy admitted to feeling tired after doing fast numbers. He heaped praises on Nina and then both did a duet.

On the last segment of her concert, Nina once again thanked her fans, before asking the crowd to party with her and grooved to Dancing Queen and I Wanna Dance with Somebody. Nina is one of the country’s truly talented singers and she should hold more concerts, and hopefully release songs in the future.