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Yesterday, Live Bets Direct had a look at some of the bookmakers’ favorites to take 2009’s edition of the Eurovision Song Contest; today, a consideration of contenders slightly further down the table at those entries thought to be viable Top 10 finishers.

Remember that most players will merit your consideration as a punter in this thing. Paddy Power, among other bookmakers, is offering “each way” bets on the Eurovision 2009 prop bet. Place an “each way” on any country’s entry and a final-four finish by that entry pays out at 1/4 the posted odds for the entry’s win. So favorite Alexander Rybak and Norway, at 2/1 to win, would pay 1/2 to finish in the top four. Second-favorite Sakis Rouvas of Greece (Why, lord, why?) would today be going off at 1/1 to go final four.

Those looking for those “each way” bets might start looking to, say, Malta (14/1 to win at Paddy Power; Betfred had odds of 12/1 posted as of yesterday, but may no longer be taking wagers on this proposition bet right now – we’ll let you know as this develops). The Maltese chanteuse goes by Chiara, and her “What if we” is firmly in the empowering female ballad category. Unfortunately, this one is dull and snooze-inducing in its blandness and surely won’t hold up after a couple performances in the finals.

Near the top of the bookmakers’ charts, too, is Montenegro (8/1 at Paddy Power, 10/1 at Betfred) with Andrea Demirovic and “Just Get Out of My Life.”

The catchy refrain as belted out by Demirovic will get the Adriatic nation some of the way, but how far? I mean, can you say “Laura Branigan”? Is that enough?

Even worse – No. Far, far worse in terms of generica than either Malta or Montenegro is the straight-up lame Azerbaijan effort. Any promising exotic flair is blown away by a horribly cheesy love duet is marginally executed and easily forgotten. Here’s to thinking this dark horse (10/1 at Paddy Power, 16/1 at Betfred) doesn’t get out of the first round.

The Os Man doesn’t know much about music, but knows what he likes. And Spain’s Soraya is eminently likeable. Imagine a more approachable (which is to say “of this world”) Grace Jones combined with a hot-blooded Annie Lennox and that’s kinda Soraya in “La Noche es para mi.”

“La Noche” is an exciting dance track which deftly combines Spanish and English lyrics sexily. And that Soraya, she’s a lotta woman but these odds (25/1 at Paddy Power, 50/1 at Betfred) are mighty long in a field packed with exciting performances from women.

On the other hand, one longshot you’ve got to love is Russia (25/1 at Paddy Power, 20/1 at Betfred). Streaks have become rarer in the Eurovision Song Contest as more countries participate, and it’s hard to imagine any country scoring back-to-back, much less a return to dominance such as Ireland enjoyed in winning four Eurovision titles between 1992 and 1996 (plus a second place in 1997).

Having said this, the closest to Eurovision Song mastery recently have been Ukraine and … Russia. While the Ukraine has seconds in 2007 and 2008, and a title in 2004 to its credit, Russia is the defending champion and snagged a second in 2006. These two nations would appear to have a hold on the current formula.

More interestingly, the selection of Anastasia Prihodko’s “Mamo” as Russia’s entry represents a complete departure in formula from 2008. To take the title, Russia ran with Dima Bilan and “Believe,” a simple ballad that relied only on execution by the alpha-male singer’s just-about-perfect English.

This time out, Mother Russia is led with a hard-dancing, melodically complex tune. Watch out if Prihodko feeds off the home crowd; “Mamo” could rock Russia right back into the final vote again. No Os Man recommendations yet, but some of the bankroll is definitely earmarked for Russia and these numbers (at Paddy Power, 25/1; Betfred, 20/1).