Nina Live! - Recording and Composition

Recording and Composition

The album was recorded live on January 30, 2005 at PHI Resto and Bar in Metrowalk, Pasig City. Nina's labelmates Christian Bautista, Thor and Trapp of Dice & K9 collaborated with her on the album. The live video recording was directed by Marla Ancheta. Warner invited several guests to act as audience on the concert, and the label's managing executive at that time, Ricky Ilacad, oriented them on what the film should look like. According to Nina, she did not really have a tough time preparing for the songs, since she sings them on her gigs. The only thing they needed to do was polish things up, and it took two weeks. Nina expressed how happy she was with The Essence band in the following statement:

"Yung bandang tumugtog sa'kin on that night, sobra akong natutuwa sa kanila kasi they really prepared for the recording. Two weeks before, nag-pratice sila halos everyday for it, and it turned out well kasi ang ganda nung pagkakarecord... almost perfect. that played for me on that night, I'm very happy with them, because they really prepared for the recording. Two weeks before, they practiced almost everyday for it, and it turned out well because it sounds beautifully recorded... almost perfect]."

"Bumigay ako after nung take kasi ang aga ng call time, tapos late na natapos ."

—Nina, on how she felt after finishing the video recording.

In the process of song selection, the production team chose songs that Nina sings in her gigs, the most-requested by fans—including "Through the Fire", "(Love Moves in) Mysterious Ways" and "At Your Best (You Are Love)". Nina personally insisted "Anything for You" to be included on the track list. During the recording, she admitted that the most difficult song to sing was "Through the Fire", knowing that it requires high vocal registers. She called the video shoot "fun," considering that the director, Ancheta, is kind and still young. They just jammed to it. Nina Live! was not really recorded in a live concert format. It included retakes of a few scenes, where the singers made unintentional mistakes.

Nina Live! captures the Soul Siren magic, the young diva in her element, effortlessly dishing out torch favorites music-loving golden oldies will never forget, like Chaka Khan's "Through the Fire", Brenda Russell's "Piano in the Dark" and The Eagles' "I Can't Tell You Why". Contemporary tracks like Aaliyah's "At Your Best (You Are Love)", Jennifer Love Hewitt's "Cool With You", Julia Fordham's "(Love Moves in) Mysterious Ways" and Celine Dion's "I Love You, Goodbye" were chosen to fit the young and student fan base of Nina. The film and sound recording of the album was very raw, so that listeners will almost think they were there at PHI Resto & Bar themselves, gushing over her and cheering all the more when her surprise guests came out and joined her for a couple of very interesting duets. Nina collaborated with three of her in-demand Warner labelmates. The first one to sing with her was romantic balladeer Bautista on "Burn". She admitted that they both did not have a rehearsal and Bautista looked tired, so they just did retakes to perfect the duet. R&B balladeer Thor followed, and he performed "The Closer I Get to You" with Nina. The two were described to have matched vocally, note for note. She also got to bust some hip-hop grooves, when she did an upbeat urban-styled version of "Coloured Kisses" together with Dice & K9's mad pup, Trapp. The duo took the song into a whole new different sound and arrangement. As an added bonus, the album also features Nina's biggest single of 2004—"I Don't Want to Be Your Friend" which was recorded in the studio and not part of the live concert. The track was specially written by international songwriter Diane Warren. The album is notable for having a running time of more than 80 minutes on a single standard compact disc, and for being one of the first OPM albums to be presented in a digipak.