The Boston Globe September 8, 1990, Saturday, City Edition My dear Sinead: No one compares 2 U By Jim Sullivan, Globe Staff There has been little doubt that Sinead O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U" is the year's most emotional, arresting ballad, nor that it's been the key factor in moving O'Connor from cult status to the superstar realm. It was at the top of the pop charts for three weeks; it propelled her album "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got" to the same position for six weeks; it's made O'Connor a household face to those who might have seen her - as host Arsenio Hall demeaningly termed her on the seventh annual MTV Music Video Awards show Thursday - as "that cute little lady with a bald head." But it's not just the song. It's very much the video: a simple, stunning, apparently one-take performance, with O'Connor's face filling the entire screen. No dancers, no props, nothing but pure emotion and direct eye contact. She sheds a single tear near the end. The video stands in sharp contrast to everything else on the air. O'Connor was the unquestioned big winner at this year's MTV event, scooping up three top prizes: Best Video, Best Female Video and Best Postmodern Video. ("Nothing Compares 2 U" began its MTV life in the postmodern ghetto, essentially a time slot where more adventurous music and videos exist. These videos, it is apparently feared, will go over the heads of the average viewer.) The singer, whose public demeanor and stage presence tend to be serious, was all giggles and speechlessness when she won her first award at the beginning of the night. By the end, when she captured the top award, she'd composed herself enough to thank her stable - Prince for writing the tune, her former and present manager, husband, band - and then alluded to the recent controversy in New Jersey when she refused to allow "The Star-Spangled Banner" to be played before her show. "I have a great respect for people of all countries, including American people," she said. "My attitude over the national anthem was in order to draw attention to the censorship issue. When it's racism disguised as censorship, it's totally worse, and that's the point I was trying to make." O'Connor's success - both in the pop mainstream and on MTV - is a welcome sign in an era of formulaic, high-style dance-pop and paint-by-numbers hard rock and rap. O'Connor's not a dancer or a fashion plate; like Kate Bush or Peter Gabriel, she's a serious singer and songwriter who has no qualms about diving off the deep end. While the Prince song is gorgeously romantic, O'Connor is masterful when she turns the tables during extreme kiss-offs like "The Emperor's New Clothes" and "The Last Day of Our Acquaintance." When playing live, she doesn't patronize her audience by telling each city it's "the best!" or indulging in phony hijinks. Rather, she gets on with business - namely, the abrupt stylistic and genre shifts that transport listeners through a variety of moods. She can create a hush; she can play thunderous rock 'n' roll. Already, with just two albums under her belt, O'Connor ranks as one of rock's most commanding, uncompromising performers. Winners of the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards: VIDEO OF THE YEAR: "Nothing Compares 2 U," Sinead O'Connor. MALE VIDEO: "The End of the Innocence," Don Henley. FEMALE VIDEO: "Nothing Compares 2 U," Sinead O'Connor. GROUP VIDEO: "Love Shack," B-52's. METAL-HARD ROCK VIDEO: "Janie's Got a Gun," Aerosmith. NEW ARTIST IN A VIDEO: Michael Penn, "No Myth." VIDEO FROM A FILM: "Cradle of Love," Billy Idol. RAP: "U Can't Touch This," M.C. Hammer. DANCE: "U Can't Touch This," M.C. Hammer. POSTMODERN: "Nothing Compares 2 U," Sinead O'Connor. BREAKTHROUGH VIDEO: "Sowing the Seeds of Love," Tears for Fears. DIRECTION: "Vogue," David Fincher. CHOREOGRAPHY: "Rhythm Nation," Anthony Thomas, Janet Jackson. SPECIAL EFFECTS: "Sowing the Seeds of Love," Jim Blashfield. ART DIRECTION: "Love Shack," Martin Lasowitz. EDITING: "Vogue," Jim Haygood. CINEMATOGRAPHY: "Vogue," Pascal Lebeque.