Who Will Be The Named The Greatest Scot?

The people have triumphed over the experts in the quest to find the Greatest Scot who will be named in a special St Andrew's Day TV show tonight.

A top panel picked a short list of 30 names. But Record readers and STV viewers were asked to select a further five.
And the Top Ten, revealed today after a public vote, contains three of the People's Choice candidates - previously ignored by the expert panel. The trio short-listed by ordinary folk are Doctor Who actor David Tennant, singer Alex Harvey and founder of the Boys' Brigade, Sir William Alexander Smith.
They are up against some of the biggest names in Scottish history and the remaining seven names in the final 10 are:


Representing Leaders & Thinkers - William Wallace and Robert The Bruce.
Representing Arts & Entertainment - Robert Burns and Billy Connolly.
Representing Sport - Jock Stein.
Representing Inventors & Entrepreneurs - Andrew Carnegie.
Representing Science & Engineers - Sir Alexander Fleming.
The final 10 were selected after a week-long series of special STV shows earlier this month, as part of the Year of Homecoming 2009.
Voting has now closed and the countdown to naming the Greatest Scot takes place from 8pm, hosted by Stephen Jardine.
The winner will be marked with apiece of contemporary art by a Scottish artist, which will be donated to the nation.
Culture minister Mike Russell said: "With such an impressive shortlist, I look forward to hearing the viewers' choice.

"How fitting the winner will be announced on St Andrew's Day, our national day and a time to celebrate Scotland and its people."

THE FINAL TEN:


BILLY CONOLLY


Scotland's most famous comedian. Born November 24, 1942, in Glasgow, he left school at 15. In 1974, his Solo Concert album sparked protests over a rowdy routine describing the Last Supper as if it had taken place in Glasgow. He still does stand-up tours.

DAVID TENNANT


Born David John McDonald on April 18, 1971, he is best known - since 2005 - as the tenth Doctor Who. Has been voted "best Doctor" by Doctor Who Magazine and the "coolest character" on UK television in a Radio Times survey.

ROBERT THE BRUCE


The King of Scots who secured independence from England was born on July 11, 1274. His finest hour was Bannockburn, in June 1314, when he beat a large English army, confirming the independent Scottish monarchy. He died in 1329.

ALEX HARVEY


Born in Glasgow, in 1935, Alex is the most famous rock'n'roll star the country has ever produced. In 1972, he formed the The Sensational Alex Harvey Band.He died in 1982, the day before his 47th birthday of a heart attack, after a concert in Belgium.

ROBERT BURNS


The poet, who died at 37 in 1796, became a celebrity of the time and is toasted each year on Burns Night. Born on January 25, 1759, in Alloway, his passions were poetry, nature, drink and women.His radical political views influenced his work.

JOCK STEIN


The great Celtic boss who created the 1967 Lisbon Lions. Born in 1922, after leaving school at 14, he became a miner. He later became Scotland boss and died of a heart attack at Cardiff in 1985, just after his team won a World Cup play-off place.

WILLIAM WALLACE


National hero, born in the 1270s in Elderslie, Renfrewshire, he inflicted defeat on the English army at Stirling Bridge and launched raids into England. Caught in 1305, he was tried for treason, hung, drawn and quartered. His head was placed on London Bridge.

ALEXANDER FLEMING


The bacteriologist and discoverer of penicillin was born in 1881. By the 1940s, the drug was being mass-produced. Knighted in 1944, he shared the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1945. He died in 1955.

ANDREW CARNEGIE


Born in 1835, the industrialist led the expansion of the US steel industry in the 19th century. He had a fortune of $100billion and spent the last 18 years of his life until 1919 giving it away, funding Carnegie Hall in New York, theatres, libraries, public parks, and schools.

WILLIAM ALEXANDER SMITH


The founder of the Boys' Brigade, the world's first uniformed youth organisation, was born in Thurso in 1854.The BB quickly spread through the UK and in recent years there were more than 500,000 members in 60 countries. He died in 1914.

Source: The Daily Record