Soul Siren Nina surely has a lot of reasons to smile these days.

A regular "ASAP Sessionistas" segment on Oct. 11 turned into a brilliant moment for the Soul Siren when before introducing her to the next production number, a VTR showed Jose Mari Chan congratulating her for reaching “Diamond” status for her third album, “Nina Live!”

“It’s a dream come true for me. Early birthday gift ‘to,” said a teary-eyed Nina in accepting the award.

Released in 2005, “Nina Live!” has sold over 200,000 copies or 10x Platinum to date, putting her side-by-side with the renowned singer-composer and the Eraserheads (for "Cutterpillow") in terms of album sales citation.

Of the 19-track record (which includes the studio version of “I Don’t Want To Be Your Friend”), Nina considers the album’s promotional single and biggest hit, “Love Moves In Mysterious Ways,” as the one closest to her heart.

“Lahat talaga [favorite ko] eh, pero kung papipiliin ako, ‘Love Moves,’ kasi ‘yun talaga ‘yung tumatak sa mga tao at na-identify nila ako with the song."

She also recalled how challenging recording Chaka Khan’s “Through The Fire” was for her.

“Pinaka-nahirapan ako sa ‘Through The Fire.’ ’Yun kasi ‘yung [may] pinaka-mataas [na note] eh (laughs).”

Nina revealed that even up to now, she gets requests during gigs to sing songs from the album, mostly for “Love Moves,” “Through The Fire,” and “Constantly.”

“Iba talaga ‘yung joy na nakikita ko sa kanila kapag kumakanta ako ng songs from ‘Nina Live.’ Nabubuhayan sila at natutuwa. Masaya ako na mapagbigyan ang requests nila,” she told Manila Bulletin Entertainment Online in an exclusive interview.

Aside from her biggest selling album, Nina has had a string of top-selling albums namely “Nina: Heaven,” “Nina: Smile,” “Nina,” “Nina: Featuring The Hits Of Barry Manilow” and “Nina Sings The Hits Of Diane Warren.”
 
Her latest release is “Renditions Of The Soul” in which Nina sings her fans’ most-requested male hits, compiled through her Friday night acoustic sessions on Wave 89.1 of the same title.

“Ako ‘yung nag-conceptualize nung show. They [listeners] send their requests. Some send letters along with the requests and binabasa ko rin ‘yun. Friend ko ‘yung station manager and I’m glad na pumayag naman siya [na gawin ko ‘yung show],” she shared.

Its carrier single, “She’s Out Of My Life” (sung as “He’s Out Of My Life), is but one of more versions in the album. Some of these are her takes on Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours,” Robin Thicke’s “Lost Without You” and Nina’s favorite track, Justin Timberlake’s “Never Again.”

What else does Nina want to accomplish?

“I’d like to collaborate with more OPM artists, like Ogie [Alcasid], Martin [Nievera], Gary [Valenciano]… Kasi nag-aalbum na ‘ko, naka-duet ‘yung mga fellow Warner [Music] artists ko, so gusto ko naman na makasama ‘yung ibang artists outside my label,” she said.

Nina also remains optimistic with the developments in the estafa case she filed against her ex-boyfriend Nyoy Volante earlier this year. She revealed that a court resolution is now in the works.

The singer is also “very happy” in her current relationship with her non-showbiz boyfriend.

“Sobrang happy, kasi kumbaga I can be in a private situation. With my previous relationships, magulo kasi eh.. Somehow magka-clash kayo because of competition. Pero para sa’kin, wala naman ‘yun [competition]. Pagmamahal lang talaga ang mahalaga.”