Epic Sax Guy — Sergey Stepanov playing saxophone on the Eurovision stage as Moldova's entry, with backup dancers

Epic Sax Guy

2010viral videoclassic

Published August 19, 2026

Epic Sax Guy is the online nickname for Sergey Stepanov, saxophonist of Moldovan trio SunStroke Project, and the looping clip of his sax solo during Eurovision 2010. The break from "Run Away" got isolated, remixed, and turned into a bait-and-switch prank called sax-rolling in the style of Rickrolling. Stepanov's 2017 Eurovision return revived the meme and pushed the original video back through gaming compilations.

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Overview

Epic Sax Guy is the online nickname for Sergey Stepanov, the saxophonist of Moldovan pop trio SunStroke Project, and the looping clip of his instrumental break during the Eurovision Song Contest 20101. The video shows Stepanov in a sleeveless white outfit thrusting his hips while blowing a punchy riff in the middle of the group's song "Run Away"2. NY Mag later called him the biggest Eurovision celebrity in the United States since ABBA1.

The joke rests on how earnest and over-the-top Stepanov's dance moves and horn playing look side by side. Fans built endless loops, mashups, and a bait-and-switch link prank called sax-rolling, patterned after Rickrolling3. The isolated sax riff also became a go-to background track for gaming highlight and best-moments compilations for titles like Hearthstone and Rainbow Six Siege3.

Origin & Background

Platform
Eurovision broadcast / YouTube (viral spread)
Creator
Sergey Stepanov
Date
2010

In May 2010, SunStroke Project represented Moldova at Eurovision with the dance pop track "Run Away," which included an extended saxophone break by Sergey Stepanov1. Moldova placed 22nd out of 25 competing countries, but the performance took off separately on YouTube, where the isolated solo pulled in tens of millions of views3. The Eurovision broadcast footage stayed the reference version that fans clipped and reuploaded2.

How It Spread

A Facebook page dedicated to Epic Sax Guy launched on May 29, 2010, followed by the single-serving site SaxRolled.com on June 24, 2010, which looped the solo indefinitely, and a sax-rolling Android app later that year3. The naming pattern piggybacked directly on the older Rickroll prank, giving the joke a ready-made template to spread through.

Stepanov returned to Eurovision on May 9, 2017, with SunStroke Project's new song "Hey Mamma," playing a fresh sax break in a tuxedo and sunglasses instead of the 2010 cutoff sleeves1. NY Mag ran a piece that same day calling the moment the return of "the hero we need"1. Urban Dictionary entries filed after the 2017 appearance describe him as more "sassy and saxy than ever," showing the meme still had a working slang footprint years after the original clip4.

Frequently Asked Questions