And they're off. The finalists are through to a month-long online voting bonanza in C21Media's International Format Awards in association with FRAPA. To screen all the entries and vote online for your favourite formats, click through from the links at the bottom of this story.

There are currently 67 formats to vote for in the 2009 awards final, across six categories, with 20 more finalists set to go live once they get their clips in - get a move on you lot!

And it's not too late to enter. The longer you leave it, the less likely you are to win, however, but you can submit your format throughout the online final event, which runs throughout September.

Voting will finish on September 30, when all the registered votes will be counted. The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony during Mipcom on Wednesday October 7 between 6pm and 8pm. This will be followed by the Format Awards Winners’ Afterparty, which will see the great and good of the format business enjoy a beachside buffet dinner at ClubC21 between 8pm and 10.30pm.

Last year's awards were decided by votes from C21Media.net's community of TV executives via the C21screenings.net video portal. Throughout September 2008 some 16,000 clips of the format contenders were streamed to TV executives worldwide. This year C21’s registered users tops 35,000, so we are expecting even higher voter turnout.

Apart from the sheer prestige of grabbing one of these sought-after awards, winners are profiled in C21 and also receive a month of free online advertising to promote the victory!

C21Media’s International Format Awards in association with FRAPA are the most democratic in the business; having your format voted for by your peers has to mean something. But it's not just about winning, as every candidate gets their formats screened by thousands of buyers around the globe.

Sponsors on this years’ awards include All3Media, Armoza Formats, Absolutely Independent, Small World, together with support from Germany’s Stadt Köln. Trailers of the new formats from these companies will run on the home page of the awards site. We thank them for their support in making these awards possible.

C21 and FRAPA would also like to thank The Witt for its help as a partner of the awards providing additional market intelligence.

Get screening and voting (log in with your C21 username and password):
To visit the online awards final and to vote, click here.

Enter your format: To enter click here.