1997 ARIA Music Awards

The 11th Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards were held on 22 September 1997 at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney. The event was hosted by Australian actor–comedian Paul McDermott, with presenters Elle McFeast, Kylie Minogue, Ben Folds, Colin Buchanan, the Presidents of the United States of America and others. Savage Garden dominated this year, receiving a record ten awards including Album of the Year for Savage Garden, Single of the Year for "Truly Madly Deeply", Best Group and seven other trophies.
In addition to the annually presented awards, a Special Achievement Award was given to Charles Fisher and an Outstanding Achievement Award was received by Peter André. The ARIA Hall of Fame inducted: the Bee Gees, Graeme Bell and Paul Kelly.

Ceremony details

The event included musical performances by Ben Folds Five, the Presidents of the United States of America and Kylie Minogue. John Farnham teamed up with crooner quartet Human Nature to debut the performance of their single, "Every Time You Cry", which later became a number-three ARIA Singles Chart hit. Crowded House, who won Highest Selling Album for their greatest hits compilation, Recurring Dream, reunited the year after breaking up. They commemorated Paul Kelly's induction into the ARIA Hall of Fame by performing his song "Leaps and Bounds".
Various international and Australian entertainers presented awards to the winners including Australian Elle McFeast, Ben Folds, Kylie Minogue and Chris Ballew, Dave Dederer and Jason Finn of the Presidents of the United States of America. Four Artisan Awards were presented prior to the telecast.

Presenters and performers

The ARIA Awards ceremony was hosted by Australian comedian and TV presenter Paul McDermott. Presenters and performers were:

Presenter	Performer
Merril Bainbridge	silverchair
Rani	silverchair
Monica Trapaga	silverchair
Michael Gudinski	Savage Garden
Tottie Goldsmith	Savage Garden
Gina Jeffreys	Savage Garden
Paul Grabowsky	Tina Arena
Dylan Lewis	Tina Arena
Alle Brunning	Tina Arena
Ben Folds	John Farnham, Human Nature – "Every Time You Cry"
John McRae	John Farnham, Human Nature – "Every Time You Cry"
the Presidents of the United States of America	John Farnham, Human Nature – "Every Time You Cry"
Bill Gates	Leonardo's Bride
Colin Buchanan	Leonardo's Bride
Mark Seymour	Leonardo's Bride
Richard Wilkins	The Superjesus
Billy Birmingham	The Superjesus
Wendy Matthews	The Superjesus
the Nissan Cedrics	Neil Finn, Christine Anu
Dave Graney	Neil Finn, Christine Anu
Deborah Conway	Neil Finn, Christine Anu
"Ugly" Phil O'Neil	Renée Geyer, Paul Kelly, Vika and Linda
Mikey Robins	Renée Geyer, Paul Kelly, Vika and Linda
Bob Downe	Renée Geyer, Paul Kelly, Vika and Linda
Elle McFeast	Crowded House – "Leaps and Bounds"
Paul Hester, Nick Seymour, Neil Finn, Jabba	Crowded House – "Leaps and Bounds"
Kylie Minogue, Peter Garrett	Crowded House – "Leaps and Bounds"

Multiple winners and nominees

Savage Garden – 10 awards from 13 nominations
Charles Fisher – 3 awards from 3 nominations
Paul Kelly – 2 awards from 5 nominations
The Superjesus – 2 awards from 2 nominations
Spiderbait – 1 award from 7 nominations
Silverchair – 1 award from 6 nominations
Crowded House – 1 award from 3 nominations
Powderfinger – 7 nominations
Awards

''Nominees and winners with results indicated on the right.''

ARIA Awards

Fine Arts Awards

Artisan Awards

Achievement awards

Outstanding Achievement Award

'''Peter Andre'''
Special Achievement Award
'''Charles Fisher'''
Hall of Fame Inductees

The ARIA Hall of Fame inductees were:

The Bee Gees
Graeme Bell
Paul Kelly

For Kelly's induction, Crowded House had reformed to provide a cover version of his "Leaps and Bounds". In 2019 Double J's Dan Condon described this as one of the "7 great performances from the history of the ARIA Awards."