(VOXtra) - As the popular Voice Arts® Awards competition rocks in its seventh year toward an annual awards ceremony on December 6 - this year, a live streamed virtual event free to all (see more about it below) - well deserved accolades are flowing on social media to scores of nominees in 90 categories.

From Animation to Websites - with Audiobooks, Commercials, Narration, Radio, Promos, Toys and more in between - these are the VO niches and voice actors to watch.

Fitting for this hot-under-the-collar election year is a spot for political attack ads, where Christi Bowen, Rebecca Davis, Kyrsta Wallrauch and Audra Buras are vying for Best Voiceover in the Outstanding Political Announcement - Attack Ad category.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) jumped onto the field this year, with Lizet Vasquez, Baxter Robertson and Valentina Latyna hoping for Best Voiceover honors in the Best Voice Assisted Device - AI category.

And three VO industry veterans vie for the honor of Best Voice Actor, Outstanding Body of Work: Roberto Sanchez, J. Michael Collins and Daniel Ross.

A companion category, Outstanding Body of Work, International - Best Voiceover, honors nominees Fabiola Stevenson, Veronica Lopez Trevino, Noella Menon and Mario Filio.

See all nominees: www.sovas.org/2020-nominees

Presented by the Society of Voice Arts and Sciences (SOVAS), the Voice Arts® Awards is a global competition celebrating "some of the world's most brilliant media where the voice is a key creative element," notes SOVAS.

Indeed: Nominees include not only voice actors, but also creative directors, producers, marketing execs, copywriters, audio engineers, casting director and spoken word artists.

"It's a very odd year," says SOVAS President and CEO Rudy Gaskins, as the organization shifts the annual Gala from elegant locations in New York or Los Angeles, to online with no physical audience. SOVAS has also moved it's annual That's Voiceover! Career Expo online (November 20-22).

But excitement for the multi-faceted 2020 awards event remains high.

Actor / voice actor / writer Mark Hamill (pictured, right) - Luke Skywalker! - will be honored with this year's Voice Arts Icon Award.

And Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. (pictured, left) host of the popular PBS series, Finding Your Roots, will receive the Muhammad Ali Voice of Humanity Honor.

"As much as innovation and creativity fuel our ability to cope and navigate change, COVID-19 turned 2020 into a year of catastrophic life and death tragedy, and shattering financial hardship," notes Gaskins (pictured, below). SOVAS did not escape these challenges - far from it.

"However, with a new Board of Directors we pressed forward, and discovered that the voice over community was the light at the end of our tunnel," he adds.

"In this, our seventh year of the Voice Arts® Awards, the voice over community stepped up with nearly a thousand entries, and they stepped up as committed judges to ensure the work was vetted at the highest level.

"As a result, this year's Voice Arts® Awards celebration may be the most enriching and rewarding ever."

Details about attending the virtual awards celebration are to come.

For more about SOVAS and its programs, visit www.SOVAS.org.