dBURNZ: Dream come true
A period of homesickness prompted dBURNZ and colleagues to write a patriotic ode to Jamaica that won the 60th Festival Song Competition on July 25.
His I Love Jamaica entry topped eight rivals in the final which took place at the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre in St Andrew.
The St Catherine-born artiste said he has long harboured the dream of such success.
He earned $3 million and the first-place trophy.
Finishing second was Ovando Levy with Jamaica School (Bingi Ling), who received $600,000, with Aba Jones and
Teet A fi Me placing third for which he received $300,000.
In an interview with the Jamaica Observer, dBURNZ recalled being in Las Vegas for six months in 2025 as part of the Bob Marley Hope Road show at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino. It was then that he and his castmates realised their love of country.
“We started to realise that all the things that we had at our fingertips in Jamaica were far from available to us. No beaches, no rivers, very few trees, the sun felt different,” he said. “Las Vegas was amazing, but just wasn’t the same, and so we began to miss Jamaica more and more each day. And so the concept came about.”
On his return to Jamaica, dBURNZ decided to enter Festival. By then, the draft he and his colleagues had done evolved into a song that was eventually accepted by the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) as a finalist for the annual event.
dBURNZ had competed in various JCDC events since primary school, but the Festival Song competition was his biggest assignment. He considers his name being on the honour roll among previous winners like The Maytals, Eric Donaldson, Stanley Beckford, and Roy Rayon, a major achievement.
“Winning the Jamaica Festival Song competition, especially during the 60th anniversary, is truly an honour and a dream come true,” he said. “Plus, it’s a song that can even be sung by non-Jamaicans who love Jamaica.”
Born Melbourne Douglas, dBURNZ is from Linstead, the market town that produced Freddie McKay, who won the 1976 Festival Song Competition with Dance dis Ya Festival.
He attended Glenmuir High School in Clarendon and The University of the West Indies, Mona, from which he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Entertainment and Cultural Enterprise Management.
