Despite the fact the everyone knows that the Eurovision Song Contest hasn't been any good since Bucks Fizz got all pseudo-erotic in Dublin in 1981: the carcass of the dream is still flogged remorselessly every spring.
Last year Germany won and so on May 14th Dusseldorf will host European broadcasting's biggest gannet fest.
Perhaps the saddest aspect of the whole tawdry spectacle is that amid the drive to appeal to the lowest common denominator of European taste, the identity and individuality of the competing nations is lost.
Music however is, like food or language, a cultural good that can be used to identify ancestry.
But does Europe have a unified or numerous distinct design languages? In how far is our cosmopolitan continent with its numerous design networks truly unified?
To help answer these and similar questions the Dusseldorf design group Anonyme Gestalter (Anonymous Designers) and design platform Teilmöbliert (Partfurnished) are organising a Euro Design Exhibition parallel to the Song Contest.
The concept is simple: 43 designers from 43 countries represent and describe their country with a stool.
The first entrants have already been confirmed - and indicate that it is going to be a high calibre exhibition. We're especially looking forward to seeing what Austria's Alexander Gufler creates, Tim Baute is on hand to prove Belgium can be genuinely interesting and with Oskar Zieta and Yiannis Ghikas Poland and Greece respectively have representatives who can hold their own with the most innovative designers Europe has to offer.
However entrants are still required from a host of countries including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Malta, Cyprus.
And the Vatican City. Joesph R is obviously still busy in the carpentry shop....
For all curious and interested in how 43 cultures approach the subject of stool design the exhibition EuroDesignExhibition: "Sit down please" 40 Stools from 40 Countries can be viewed at Teilmöbliert, Lorettostrasse 9, 40219 Düsseldorf from May 5th - 20th.
We imagine there will be some sort of event on Saturday May 14th. Watch this space!
And naturally we will keep you updated and publish a few of the designs on these pages.
More information and a complete list of those countries still looking for a representative can be found at:
http://www.anonymegestalter.de/
(And yes we will try to clarify the obvious 40/43 discrepancy)
