The whole Carrie Prejean debacle, including her failure to live up to the obligationsof her crown, nude photos, and her response to Perez Hilton’s gay marriage comment at the pageant, has left the real Miss USA out of the spotlight. But now that Carrie has lost her crown as Miss California USA, the new reigning CA queen, Tami Farrell, is going to try to make the best of her new title. At a recent Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl, the former Miss Malibu expressed a desire to “calm the waters,” and said that she “keeps stepping into controversy.”

It sounds like, unlike Carrie, she wants to keep her record clear, but that won’t stop her from using her crown to further her own career. She’s hoping to record another CD (she’s already recorded one Christian album), and to turn a script that she has written into a movie starring Will Farrell.

“I’m trying my best to kind of calm the waters,” Farrell said in an interview Sunday at the Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl.

Prejean’s same-sex marriage comments, semi-nude photos and personal feud with state pageant officials contributed to a storm of controversy that brought unusual attention to the title Farrell now carries.

“I think that everything in life happens for a reason, and I’m just blessed to have this opportunity,” Farrell said.

Farrell, 24, said, “it’s been a crazy few days” since Wednesday, when she got the call that Prejean had been ousted.

“I keep stepping into controversy, but hopefully I can avoid it for a while,” she said.

She hopes the extra attention will help launch her show business career.

“A couple of my favorite music groups have called, because I sing, so maybe we could record something together,” she said. Farrell did not name the groups.

She is also a writer and has had meetings in recent days about a screenplay she’s written.

“All I can tell you is that it’s hilarious and that if (actor) Will Farrell or (director) Adam McCay could give me a call, things would be wonderful,” she said.

[from CNN]

Tami is stepping into an interesting position. Carrie Prejean is said to have refused to do appearances while still promoting her own agenda. The pageant directors will probably be grateful to work with a less demanding Miss California USA and work to ensure that Tami gets positive exposure. Promoting a new Miss California USA with an untarnished image will also help save the reputation of the pageant itself. Tami is a good choice – as Miss Teen California, she raised over $21 million for charities.

On the other hand, the public is understandably tired of the whole situation and may not want to hear the words “Miss California USA” again – regardless of the woman to which they refer. So while Carrie may get her very own conservative seat on The View, Tami will probably be making charity appearances without a camera in sight. Still, though those appearances might not be newsworthy, she’ll be doing her job – a concept that Carrie Prejean should probably look into.

Tami Farrell is shown at the Gridlock Denim Launch Party at Kitson on 6/11/09. Credit: Rick Stephens / PR Photos