This guy might know how since he replaced my entire Right softkey with a "New" menu that is customizeable.
http://www.saman-cz.com/ppc/index.html
Maybe it's a lead maybe it's not, but hope it gives you an idea one way or another...
Personally very happy with my PicDial right softkey
If I need one of those "Other" contacts I look them up on PocketBreeze's ContactBreeze, or fetch it from the built-in contacts.
Btw your idea of a context menu when holding down on a pic makes me a happy muppet. Thanks for what you have done sofar.