New Category for AI-Enhanced Music Videos Added to Lucas Awards

The 2026 Lucas Awards have introduced a groundbreaking category to the Cuban music video competition: the award for "Best AI Video." This accolade is aimed at recognizing works that incorporate artificial intelligence either partially or fully in their creation. The announcement was made during the nominee gala at the Café Cantante, located in the National Theater of Cuba in Havana, as reported by journalist Lied Lorain on OnCuba.

OnCuba's coverage highlighted that the surge in submissions utilizing this technology prompted the decision: "The volume of videos received that partially or fully integrate artificial intelligence into their production inspired the competition to also award the Best AI Video."

In addition to this innovation, the event has introduced another new category: "Makeup and Hairstyling," marking the first time this craft is acknowledged within the island's music video production.

The 29th edition of the Lucas Awards encompasses a total of 31 categories. This year, the program received 342 music video entries, out of which 251 were preselected and reviewed by a jury of about a dozen specialists, including non-competing filmmakers, art critics, musicologists, editing and visual effects experts, and cultural journalists.

This year's campaign is titled "1pá 30," aimed at highlighting the perseverance of Cuban artists and creators despite the challenging socioeconomic conditions in the country.

The music video with the most nominations is "Aset" by the Franco-Cuban duo Ibeyi, with seven nominations in categories such as alternative-fusion, performance—by Naomi Díaz—art direction, photography design, editing, direction, and video of the year.

Trailing with six nominations each are "Habana" by Raúl Paz, "Delirando" by Vicente Trigo, "Son y go" by Rafa Tena and Alain Pérez, and "Dándote tó" by Jarulay.

Among the contenders for "Video of the Year" are "Sueño con serpientes" by X Alfonso and Silvio Rodríguez, and "Luciérnaga" by Milo J and Silvio Rodríguez. The historical troubadour's involvement in three music videos—also including "Déjame en paz" with Alejo Stivel—positions him as the artist with the most nominations, totaling ten.

Director Felo leads the pack with 17 nominations across six videos, followed by Freddy Loons with 15 nominations for six different works.

A notable change in this edition affects the Popularity Award: for the first time, public voting will occur from a closed list of ten nominated music videos—rather than choosing from all submissions—via social media, SMS, and TransferMóvil. This change aims to honor the clips that topped the Lucasnómetro, the weekly impact meter of the TV program, throughout the year.

The introduction of the "Best AI Video" award makes the Lucas Awards the first Cuban music video competition to officially recognize the use of artificial intelligence at a time when several musical projects from the island are beginning to circulate on digital platforms with images generated or processed using AI tools.