Java SE (Java Platform, Standard Edition)

I want to place a JLabel at a fixed x, y position on the ContentPane, with no effect. I have a JFrame, with a JPanel with a custom background picture as the content pane. And I'm adding the JLabel to the content pane. It appear at a fixed position at the top of the frame. That I want to change. I tried setBounds and setLocation with no effect. Any ideas?

This is the code to setup the JLabel:

        congratulations = new JLabel();
        //congratulations.setLocation(50, 260);
        congratulations.setBounds(50, 260, 200, 30);
        congratulations.setFont(new Font("Optima", 0, 24));
        getContentPane().add(congratulations);

Thanks,
PR.