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SunStroke Project is a
Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistr ...
n musical duo composed of Sergei Yalovitsky (vocals, composer) and Sergey Stepanov (saxophonist). They achieved fame for representing
Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 Moldova participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with the song " Run Away" written by Anton Ragoza, Sergey Stepanov and Alina Galetskaya. The song was performed by the group SunStroke Project and Olia Tira. The Moldovan broadcaster TeleRa ...
with Olia Tira, and again in the 2017 contest. The duo was originally formed as a trio, including both current members in addition to Anton Ragoza. The name of the group was chosen by Ragoza whilst working in the army with Sergey Stepanov, after he had an incident in which he was affected by
heat stroke Heat stroke or heatstroke, also known as sun stroke, is a severe heat illness that results in a body temperature greater than , along with red skin, headache, dizziness, and confusion. Sweating is generally present in exertional heatstroke, ...
whilst on a field exercise. On 25 February 2017, SunStroke Project was selected once more to represent
Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 Moldova participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song " Hey Mamma" written by Anton Ragoza, Sergei Ialovitski, Sergey Stepanov, Mihail Cebotarenco and Alina Galetskaya. The song was performed by the group SunStroke Project. The ...
with the song " Hey, Mamma!", and finished in third place after qualifying for the final on 9 May. In 2019, due to unreasonable disagreements, Anton Ragoza ceased to be part of the group. Sunstroke Project has continued as a duo. Their first single as a duo ''Boomerang'' was released in April 2019.


Members

Anton Ragoza was born on 6 January 1986 in Tiraspol, MSSR. He is the violinist and primary musical composer for the band. Previously he has conducted the orchestra of Chișinău and won a series of prestigious awards in the field of classical music. Anton has a wide experience in performing in bands which play in the modern electronic genre. He identified Justin Timberlake and
Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
as musical inspirations. Sergey Stepanov is the saxophonist. He was born on 3 September 1984 in Tiraspol. He currently lives in Chișinău, Moldova. His musical taste took contours on the music of artists such as
David Sanborn David William Sanborn (born July 30, 1945) is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album ''Taking Off'' in 19 ...
and
Eric Marienthal Eric Marienthal (born December 19, 1957) is a Grammy Award-nominated Los Angeles-based contemporary saxophonist best known for his work in the jazz, jazz fusion, smooth jazz, and pop genres. Early life Eric Marienthal was born on December 19, 1 ...
; and modern DJs like
David Guetta Pierre David Guetta ( , ; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and music producer. He has over 10 million album and 65 million single sales globally, with more than 10 billion streams. In 2011, 2020 and 2021, Guetta was voted the number one D ...
,
David Vendetta David Paparusso (), better known by his stage name David Vendetta (born 25 August 1968 in Longwy), is a French dance producer and DJ. Biography David Vendetta's career as a professional DJ only starts in 2002. At that time, he meets Antoine ...
and
Tiësto Tijs Michiel Verwest (; born 17 January 1969), known professionally as Tiësto ( ), is a Dutch DJ and music producer from Breda. He was voted "the Greatest DJ of All Time" by '' Mix'' magazine in a 2010/2011 poll amongst fans. In 2013, he was v ...
. He loves jazz though he also likes to experiment in vocal house, pop and R&B. He met Ragoza while in the army, and decided to create the band SunStroke Project. In an interview at the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest, he identified Russian saxophonist Igor Butman as his musical inspiration. Sergei Yalovitsky is the vocalist of the band. He previously worked as a singer on cruise lines. He has won various awards for singing in Moldova and Romania.


Career


2007–2008: "Sunstroke" era: Early pre-vocal releases

Shortly after the band was founded in 2007, their first (and, as of 2014, only) official album, ''Don't word more..'' was released. The album is very rare, and only a few tracks are currently known to have been a part of it. One track, "Scream", is known to be the predecessor to ''Scream'' released a few years later with Myslicky.


2008–2009: Pasha Parfeny era

From late 2008 to summer 2009, Moldovan vocalist Pasha Parfeny joined the band. Three singles were released during this few-month period. Each were produced by Alex Brashovean of the former Moldovan band
O-Zone O-Zone was a Moldovan Eurodance group that was active from 1999 to 2019. Originating in 1998 as a duo consisting of Dan Bălan and Petru Jelihovschi before the latter's departure, their official trio lineup in 1999 consisted of Dan Bălan, R ...
. They sang for the Eurovision 2009 pre-selection for
Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistr ...
, where they took the 3rd place with the hit No Crime.
Nelly Ciobanu Nelea Ciobanu-Mărgineanu (born 28 October 1974), known professionally as Nelly Ciobanu () is a Moldovan singer. Ciobanu graduated from music college of the city of Tiraspol and later made her debut on stage in 1993, with her brother as part of d ...
was elected to represent Moldova at the contest that year.


2010: Eurovision, Myslitsky era

"Believe" was the first new single to be released by the band with Sergei Yalovitsky as lead vocalist (A reworked ''In Your Eyes'' was the first single to be released with Yalovitsky). It was also their original entry to Moldova's national selection for Eurovision 2010 until it was withdrawn (as well as Olia Tira's entry) in favor of "Run Away". SunStroke Project together with Olia Tira represented
Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistr ...
in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2010 The Eurovision Song Contest 2010 was the 55th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Oslo, Norway, following the country's victory at the with the song " Fairytale" by Alexander Rybak. Organised by the European Broadcasting U ...
with the song " Run Away". The final of the '' O melodie pentru Europa 2010'' pre-selection took place in Chișinău on 6 March 2010, with the song gaining the maximum 12 points from both the jury and SMS-voting. The song reached 22nd place in the contest. Along with DJ Alexei Myslicky, several other singles were produced throughout 2010. He later departed to form Offbeat Orchestra in Russia in late 2010.


2011–present: Touring and yearly singles

Since 2011, Sunstroke Project has toured extensively and has worked more closely with their longtime label, Sens Music. An entry was made for SunStroke Project and Olia Tira to represent Moldova in the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest with the single "Superman" but it did not make the next stage of selection. SunStroke Project attempted to represent Moldova in the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest entering with two songs: "Lonely" and "Day After Day", the latter with Michael Ra. Both entries qualified to the semi-final from the live audition round. However, as only one song could be chosen per artist, Sunstroke Project chose "Day After Day" to ultimately move forward. After qualifying from the semi-final, they finished third in the national final. SunStroke Project attempted to represent Moldova in the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest once again, with the upbeat electro-house song " Hey, Mamma!". The band came in first place after a tight voting procedure, qualifying them to represent
Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistr ...
in the Song Contest in May. They reached third place with their performance in the 2017 competition, giving Moldova their best result in the contest. On returning to Moldova, SunStroke Project was awarded the Order of Honour by the President of Moldova Igor Dodon. Sunstroke Project were also featured in Season 2 of the
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...
series, "Travels With My Father," wherein British comedian Jack Whitehall travels to Moldova with his father,
Michael Whitehall Michael John Whitehall (born 12 April 1940) is an English author, producer, talent agent and television personality. He is a former theatrical agent who went on to form two production companies, Havahall Pictures (with Nigel Havers) in 1988, an ...
, in order to meet and perform with the members of Sunstroke Project.


Discography


Studio albums


Extended plays


Singles


As lead artist


As featured artist


Promotional singles


Cover songs


Internet phenomena

Sergey Stepanov's saxophone solo in the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest for the song " Run Away" became famous across the Internet in a meme known as "Epic Sax Guy" or "Saxroll". The remixes of his saxophone solo have millions of hits on
YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
. Later, this song is used more as background music of video gaming(such as '' Hearthstone'' and ''
Rainbow Six Siege ''Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege'' is an online tactical shooter video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on December 1, 2015; the game was ...
'')"Best moments" videos. In December 2010 SunStroke Project appeared on Moldovan TV programme ''Sare şi piper'' and sang a song titled "Epic Sax", named after the meme. The phrase "Epic Sax Guys" forms part of the lyrics of the SunStroke Project's single "Superman", when they unsuccessfully attempted to represent Moldova in the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest. Stepanov himself acknowledged his viral fame playing the Run Away saxophone riff when the group was interviewed during the first semi-finals of the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest. In 2020 the character Jax got a so-called
friendship Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an "acquaintance" or an "association", such as a classmate, neighbor, coworker, or colleague. In some cultures, the concept o ...
ending move in the ''Aftermath'' expansion of the video game
Mortal Kombat 11 ''Mortal Kombat 11'' is a 2019 fighting video game developed by NetherRealm Studios and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. It is the eleventh main installment in the ''Mortal Kombat'' franchise and a sequel to 2015's '' Mortal ...
in which Jax was playing the sax in a similar fashion to Stephanov. Over half a million views were soon viral with the title "Epic Jax Guy".


Notes


References


External links

* * {{Authority control Moldovan musical groups Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Moldova Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2010 Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2017 2007 establishments in Moldova