Runaway (Sahlene Song) - Performance at The Eurovision Song Constes 2002

Performance At The Eurovision Song Constes 2002

On the night of May 25 2002 at the Eurovision Song Contest mounted at Saku Suurhall Arena in Tallinn, "Runaway" was the eighth entrant performed, following Russia's Prime Minister with "Northern Girl" and preceding Macedonia's Karolina with "Od nas zavisi". Sahlene performed in a white leather outfit she'd designed with lyricist Jana Hallas: she wore a midriff baring sleeveless shirt with a plunging v-neck and a fringe over one arm, a slotted skirt and high boots. Although Sahlene's performance at Eurolaul two months previous had featured a chorale of Estonian vocalists: specifically Kaire Vilgats, Dagmar Oja, Pearu Paulus and Johannes Lõhmus, her backing ensemble for Eurovision featured only two vocalists, one Estonian: Jelena Juzvik, and one Swedish: Lena Olsson-Björkén. The musicians who played behind Sahlene at Eurovision were Estonian drummer Jüri Mazuchak and two Swedish guitarists: Joel Sahlin - Sahlene's brother - and Charlotte Berg. At the close of voting, the tally for "Runaway" was 111 points, which result tied "Runaway" with the UK Eurovision 2002 entrant "Come Back" by Jessica Garlick for third place in a field of twenty-four. In the official Eurovision rankings, "Runaway" is listed as finishing in third place at Eurovision 2002 with "Come Back" finishing fourth: the preferment of "Runaway" is based on it having secured two first place votes on the night of competition, specifically from Latvia and Sweden, while "Come Back" received only one first place vote, that being from Austria.

"Runaway" was succeeded as Estonian representative at the 2003 Contest by Ruffus with "Eighties Coming Back".

The composers of "Runaway" would again have a song they had written be the Estonian Eurovision entrant: the Eurovision 2006 entrant "Through My Window" which, like "Runaway", was performed by a Swedish vocalist, in this case Sandra Oxenryd.