For every person who loves Eurovision and obsessively keeps up with the rule changes, there's 100 more people who remain confused, perplexed and baffled by the seemingly odd criteria around the song contest.

So where did these Eurovision rules come from?

Why is Italy to blame for the song length limit?

And is the Big 5 all Sweden's fault?

In this first of two parts, journalist and Eurovision superfan Steven Perkins looks at the early history of Eurovision to understand where some of today's seemingly inexplicable rules came from.

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Douze Points is a Podcasts By Liam production, presented by Steven Perkins and produced by Liam Heffernan. Original theme composed by Ian MacEwan. The Bingewatch network was created by Hannah Fernando and Ian MacEwan. For any queries, including advertising & sponsorship, please email [email protected]