Smile (Nina Girado album)

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Smile
Studio album by
Nina
ReleasedDecember 12, 2003 (2003-12-12)
Recorded2003
StudioPinknoise Studio
(Quezon City, Philippines)
GenrePop, R&B
Length49:35
LanguageEnglish, Tagalog
LabelWarner Music Philippines
ProducerRicky R. Ilacad, Neil C. Gregorio, The 33rd, Ferdie Marquez, Mike Luis
Nina chronology
Heaven
(2002) 		Smile
(2003) 		Nina Live!
(2005)
Singles from Smile
  1. "Make You Mine"
    Released: November 2003
  2. "A Girl Can Dream"
    Released: February 2004
  3. "Sayang Naman"
    Released: May 2004

Smile is the second studio album by

Filipina singer Nina, released in the Philippines on December 12, 2003 by Warner Music Philippines.[1] The album was a follow-up to the tremendous success of her debut album. It resembles the same sound from its predecessor, but only bigger and bolder in terms of incorporating urban-style to upbeat rhythmic jams and harmonic sound to powerful sentimental ballads. Ricky Ilacad, head of Warner label, assigned a few international songwriters and arrangers, including Jörgen Elofsson and Rudy Pérez, to collaborate with the label on the production of the album, which is noticeably broader compared to the first project. For the first time, Nina wrote a song, "Can't Say I Love You", which made it to the final cut.[2] The album contains three cover versions of songs by Madonna, Baron Barbers and Cris Villonco
.

Upon release, the album received generally favorable reviews from music critics. Many of which pointed out the "melodic catchiness" compared to Heaven, but criticized the songwriting, lack of depth and failure to produce potential hits. In 2004, it was certified gold by the

Amazon.com MP3 Download.[4] In 2009, the song "What If" was covered by Korean boyband Super Junior for their album Sorry, Sorry
. To date, the album has sold more than 30,000 units in the Philippines, certifying Platinum by the PARI.

Three successful commercial singles were released from the album. "

OPM artist to have three number one singles in a span of one year. "A Girl Can Dream" was released as the second single and it performed well on Philippine charts. It did not reach number one, however, but she managed to popularize the song and make it her own, even if it was originally recorded by another artist. "Sayang Naman" is the first Tagalog
single by Nina and the last commercial single from the album. It was released due to high demand and requests by fans and listeners. Despite this, the song did not perform on charts as well as her previous releases.

Background

After the success of Nina's 2002 debut album,

Zomba record-production acts Sean Hosein, Dane DeViller, Andy Goldmark and Swedish composer Jörgen Elofsson. Mike Luis of Freestyle
joined the production, writing two songs for the album. The album was named after one song that made it to the final cut, "Smile".

Writing and composition

"Can't Say I Love You"
A sample of the song, featuring the sensually engaging sound and lyrics Nina incorporated with Ruffinego.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Smile resembles the same sound from Nina's debut, but only bigger and bolder in terms of incorporating urban-style to upbeat rhythmic jams and harmonic sound to powerful sentimental ballads. During the production process of the album, Nina showcases her versatility by taking on upbeat pop-R&B materials and soulful acoustic ballads with more edge.[5]

"I play a little bit of the guitar and the piano, pero kina-career ko na ngayon ang pagpa-piano [but right now, playing the piano is what I'm focusing on]."

—Nina, on the instruments she learned to play to help her write music.[6]

Neil Gregorio co-produced all the songs in the album. "Can't Say I Love You" is the first ever song written by Nina, to be included on her album. Its music was handed by Emanuele Ruffinego. The song was notably described as a "sensually engaging ballad."

percussion
were added in it within the first chorus. Mike Luis and Ferdie Marquez were assigned to most of the jobs, including production, arrangement, mixing, sequence and programming, vocal supervision, and back-up.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Philippine Daily Inquirer(favorable)[7]
The Philippine Star(favorable)[8]

Smile received favorable response, being praised for its "melodic catchiness" but was criticized for the songs' lack of depth. Noelani Torre of Philippine Daily Inquirer described the album as "smoothly-produced", stating "There are 12 songs in Smile, and none of them space-fillers or lengtheners. Most of them are soft and gently rhythmic." She was critical of Nina's songwriting in "Can't Say I Love You", calling it "worded too prosaically with instances of faulty grammar".[7] The Philippine Star was more positive, commenting that the album "showcases [Nina]'s musical versatility. Tinged with upbeat rhythmic jams and powerful sentimental ballads". The lead single "Make You Mine" was called "an upbeat R&B piece that offers a blissful listening experience".[8]

Commercial performance

In the Philippines, Smile debuted at number nine on the PH Top 10 Albums chart.[9] Smile spent only four weeks on the chart, The album did not have a commercial success as her previous debut album Heaven (2002). The album had sold 15,000 as of 2004 receiving Gold Certification in the Philippines PARI.[10]

Singles

"Make You Mine"
A sample of the song, featuring upbeat groove and flirty lyrics different from the typical "love song syndrome".
"A Girl Can Dream"
A sample of the song, featuring "love triangle" lyrics and slow-tempo arrangement reminiscent to "Jealous".
Problems playing these files? See media help.

In December 2003, Nina released the album alongside the first single "Make You Mine". The song features rap parts by Pinoy hip hop artist Picasso. The reception was great, especially since it differed from the singles she was known for. Its upbeat groove and flirty lyrics allowed her to transcend the typical "love song syndrome" most Filipino artists are known for, and spun a reinvented image for the Soul Siren. The song was number one in the country, making Nina the first and only female artist to have three number one singles in a single year.[11] In 2004, "A Girl Can Dream" was released as the second single in early 2004. Although Nina popularized the song, Cris Villonco originally recorded it in 2000. Like her number one hit "Jealous", it talks about a love triangle, but brings forth a more optimistic view in love. The music video features labelmate Christian Bautista as her love interest. "Sayang Naman" was the first Tagalog single released by Nina and became the last commercial single from the album. It was released due to positive reception and massive requests. Though the song failed to establish the same impact as the previous hits, it was praised for its ability to maintain consistency with the album's focus.[11]

Other songs

Two radio-only singles were released in the form of the Madonna original "Shoo-Bee-Doo" and the Baron Barbers original "I'll Always Stay in Love This Way", allowing the album to reach platinum status by the

Masikip sa Dibdib (which starred Rufa Mae Quinto), where Nina starred in a cameo role, performing the song back to back with Kyla, Karylle and Anna Fegi
.

Promotion

In December 2003, Nina transferred from

MYX Live! hosted by Rico Blanco. She sang songs from the album including the two covers, "Shoo-Bee-Doo" and "I'll Always Stay in Love This Way". She also performed "The Christmas Song" (from Warner's All Star Christmas Collection) and "I Don't Want to Be Your Friend" (from Diane Warren Presents Love Songs
).

Like Heaven's singles, music videos of the album's songs have playful storylines and youthful ideas, and also uses special visual effects. Music videos of the album's singles received heavy rotation on

MTV Philippines
.

Accolades

Despite the impressive chart performance of the first single "Make You Mine" and a

MTV Pilipinas Music Awards 2004. The album, though, was recognized for its heavy influence of R&B, soul and "melodic catchiness". In 2004, the Philippine Business Excellence Award/Awards and Recognition Association of the Philippines named Nina as the "No. 1 Female R&B Singer in the Philippines". In addition, Mega Magazine listed her as one of the "Women to Watch" in 2004.[14] In the same year, she was recognized as one of the "10 Best Singers in the Philippines" by the Tinig Awards, along with veteran singers Regine Velasquez, Ogie Alcasid, Gary Valenciano and Jaya
.

Due to the chart-topping success of the carrier single "Make You Mine",

MTV Philippines and 97.1 WLS-FM made Nina their Artist of the Month for January 2004.[15] On the first ever Philippine Hip-Hop Music Awards in 2005, she was nominated for Female R&B Artist of the Year, but lost the award to Kyla.[16]
Also in 2005, she was awarded as the Best Female Acoustic Artist by the National Consumers Quality Awards.

Track listing

All tracks were produced or co-produced by Neil Gregorio; additional producers are listed below.[15]

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."
Madonna
Marquez4:41
6."Goodnite But Not Goodbye"Roxanne Seeman, John Keller, Stephen OberhoffMarquez3:44
7."I'll Always Stay in Love This Way"Boy KatindigMarquez4:33
8."Still Gonna Be"Allan Rich, Mark Portman, Rudy PérezMarquez3:48
9."Di Ba (English: Isn't It)"LuisLuis3:38
10."Can't Say I Love You"Nina Girado, Emanuele RuffinegoMarquez4:37
11."Ring Me"LuisLuis4:19
12."Smile"David Martin, Johnny DouglasMarquez3:44

Notes

  • Track 2 was originally recorded by Cris Villonco.
  • Track 5 was originally recorded by Madonna.
  • Track 7 was originally recorded by Baron Barbers.
  • Track 8 was re-titled as "Still Be Lovin' You" on some copy prints.

Personnel

Credits taken from Smile's liner notes.[17]

Charts

Chart Peak
position
Philippine Albums Chart[18] 9

Certifications

Country Provider Certification Sales
Philippines
PARI
 Platinum 30,000+

Release history

Country Edition Release Date Label Catalogue
Philippines Standard (CD) December 12, 2003 (2003-12-12)[19] Warner Music 50467-1076-2
South Korea[20] June 21, 2005 (2005-06-21) 643443173063
United States Standard (digital download)[3][4] WEA

References

  1. ^ "Nina - Smile". Titik Pilipino. 2003. Retrieved 2009-05-13.
  2. ^ "Nina wrote 'Can't Say I Love You' for Smile". Manila Bulletin. May 23, 2005. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
  3. ^ a b "Nina - Smile". iTunes. 2003. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
  4. ^ a b "Nina - Smile MP3 Download". Amazon. June 21, 2005. Retrieved 2009-06-17.
  5. ^ a b c "Warner releases Nina's new album!". ShowbizPinoy.com. Retrieved 2011-03-30.
  6. ^ Almond N. Aguila (April 3, 2005). "What Nina Gave Up for Singing". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 2011-03-30.
  7. ^ a b Noelani Torre (February 14, 2004). "Nina has a lot to smile about". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
  8. ^ a b "Warner releases Nina's new album". The Philippine Star. January 7, 2004. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
  9. ^ "- The Online Resource for Filipino Songs". 2011-09-13. Archived from the original on 13 September 2011. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  10. ^ Aguila, Almond N. "What Nina Gave Up for Singing". Philstar.com. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  11. ^ a b c "Nina - About". NinaSoulSiren.com. 2010. Archived from the original on 2009-04-22. Retrieved 2009-05-13.
  12. ^ PARI (August 30, 2004). "17th Awit Awards Finalists". Titik Pilipino. Archived from the original on March 7, 2012. Retrieved 2010-09-25.
  13. ^ "17th Awit Awards Winners". Titik Pilipino. September 9, 2004. Archived from the original on January 31, 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-25.
  14. ^ "Nina - Awards". NinaSoulSiren.com. 2010. Archived from the original on 2009-04-22. Retrieved 2009-05-13.
  15. ^ a b "Nina - Discography". NinaSoulSiren.com. 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-04-24. Retrieved 2009-05-13.
  16. ^ Jay Frank de Jesus (February 19, 2005). "1st Philippine Annual Hip-hop Music Awards". Titik Pilipino. Archived from the original on March 7, 2012. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
  17. ^ Smile (Liner Notes). Nina. Warner Music Philippines. 2003.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  18. ^ "- The Online Resource for Filipino Songs". 2011-09-14. Archived from the original on 2011-09-14. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
  19. ^ Diamond: Greatest Hits 2002-2010 (Album Notes (Discography)). Nina. Warner Music Philippines. 2010.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  20. ^ "Nina - Smile". ManiaDB.com. 2003. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
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