The ceremony was hosted by comedian and TV presenter Paul McDermott with a capacity crowd of 1900 attending.[3] Presenters (see below for full list) distributed 29 trophies.[3]Best Group winners the Whitlams received their award from the group's namesake Gough Whitlam.[3] The former Prime Minister announced "It's my family."[4] Once on stage the members knelt at his feet.[4] Upon accepting Savage Garden's award for Outstanding Achievement – selling more than eight million copies world-wide – band member Darren Hayes reflected, "My nephew told me not to come home without the Wiggles' autographs."[3]
Presenters and performers
The ARIA Awards ceremony was hosted by Australian comedian and TV presenter Paul McDermott.[3] Presenters and performers were:
^ARIA lists this entry as "The Boys for Necks - The".[1]
^ARIA lists Dave Dobson as one of three artists for "Now Until the Break of Day".[1] Opera tenor, David Hobson is described as a 1998 ARIA Award winner.[5]