Former Miss California Carrie Prejean: beauty contestant, Dove Awards presenter, and book author

July 20, 11:21 PMNashville Gospel Music & Entertainment ExaminerKathryn Darden

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Photo of Brandon Heath with Carrie Prejean by Kathryn Darden

Carrie Prejean - Dove Awards presenter

Former Miss California Carrie Prejean received a standing ovation at the Gospel Music Association’s Dove Awards in Nashville this past April when she came out to introduce a performance of “I Can Only Imagine” by Mercy Me. Carrie Prejean had just become a household name for her response to Perez Hilton's agenda-driven question about gay marriage at the Miss USA Pageant right before her appearance at the premiere gospel music awards night.

Although Prejean did not speak about her controversial pageant answer during the Dove Awards show, backstage she told me she had not meant to offend anyone but felt she needed to be truthful about her stand adding, “You have to stay true to your beliefs.” The tables were turned on the gospel artists backstage at the Dove Awards; instead of people trying to have their picture snapped with the artists, musical celebrities and Dove Award winners like Brandon Heath were lining up to have their photos taken with Miss California Carrie Prejean.

Carrie Prejean - fired beauty queen

After that appearance at the Dove Awards, Prejean has been in the news fairly regularly as photos surfaced of the young beauty in skimpy, semi-topless attire. Donald Trump added his own brand of celebrity to the mix with his waffling stand on whether to fire Prejean or let her continue to serve as Miss California. Ultimately, Carrie Prejean was fired on June 10, allegedly for not fulfilling her pageant obligations although Prejean has a rather different story to tell.

Carrie Prejean - author

Now Prejean has penned a memoir about her experiences called Standing Still. The book will be released in November on Regnery Publishing. No news yet if she mentions her Dove Awards experiences in Nashville in the book, but in the news clip aired on Nashville's Channel 2 announcing the book's release, the background video was of Carrie Prejean at the Dove Awards.

More on Carrie Prejean at:

Fired! Carrie Prejean Loses Miss California Crown

Miss California 2009 - Carrie Prejean

Also see Gospel Music 101: What is gospel music?