Tribute artist Trina back home - reason to celebrate! - she craves solitude

June 13, 3:13 PMActing ExaminerDeborah Smith Ford

Previous Next

2 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Acting Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

One of the many well wishers greeting Trina at airport                 (Photo/CroonersLV)

One might think of being in prison as being in solitude.  But for Trina, no matter what her experiences were in prison, it is solitude that she now craves here in the safety of her home back in the sates. 

Trina had this to say, "Life Behind Bars," to reporter Norm, with reviewjournal.com, who was one of many who welcomed her at the Las Vegas airport on June 10, 2009.

LIFE BEHIND BARS by Norm
Three months in prison in South America had its trying times for Las Vegas celebrity impersonator Trina Johnson-Finn.

They were, in her words, "scary" moments, near-fights, awful food and overcrowded cells.
But it didn't stop her from singing. When word got out that she was a singer from Las Vegas, she was asked to perform. She sang Mariah Carey's "Hero."
 

When someone asked her to sing it during her homecoming Wednesday in the baggage area at McCarran International Airport, she provided the most emotional minutes of the reunion. Standing beside her husband, Raymond Finn, she launched into "Hero" and sang it with gusto.
 

Tears welled up in the eyes of the welcoming party.
Johnson-Finn was acquitted earlier this week on charges that she went to Suriname to impersonate Toni Braxton and defraud a concert crowd.  She told reporters,
 

I felt like I was on 'Survivors Island,'
more than anything,

I crave solitude."

Who is Trina Johnson-Finn?  She is a professional tribute artist to Tina Turner and Toni Braxton,  who was wrongly arrested and imprisoned for claiming to be the real Toni Braxton on March 1, 2009.  She was also blamed for being involved in the scamming of the Suriname's guests' monies, who claim they paid to see Toni Braxton perform.

In reality, Trina was hired to be Braxton, as a tribute artist, and to perform at a party.  Said gig was all written in a provided contract.

Angel Ventura, the real scam artist of the above accusation was caught and released, even though he confessed.  He also admitted that Trina was not a part of his scam.  Although she was the one to serve almost 3 1/2 months in a Suriname prison.

That ordeal now behind her and husband Raymond, is only the beginning.  Trina recently returned home to the states, and is home with husband, friends and family in Las Vegas, Nevada.

All Trina's supporters want to celebrate her return, and celebrate they will.  Here is hoping, too, that Trina will have kept a written journal of her imprisonment experiences, and if not, will put them to pen now that she has returned.

The journal idea may not only be therapeutic to Trina, but a help to all those other actors, tribute artists and talent out there who might learn from this incident and avoid such an ordeal in their own lives. 

This decision is not for anyone to make except Trina herself.  She also need not be put in such a position (that of writing a journal) unless she sees fit.  Hopefully reading such articles as this one, will be helpful enough to other talent out there, helping them to be more aware of what can happen if/when they work outside of the United States. 

Again, this decision, is directed at any talent, from anywhere, working in another country other than their own - be careful.

The next plan - to have a return celebration party for Trina.  More to follow.

Raymond & Trina (Photo/CroonersLV)

Credit goes out to so many who have been spreading the word about Trina's ordeal and now her release.  Here are but a few of those supporters.  Feel free to contact me or leave a comment with others' names.

 R-J Norm

International Celebrity Images

Orlando Entertainment Examiner Dawnn Behrens

Crooners Unlimited

A Unique Entertainment, Inc.

The Sunburst Convention of Professional Tribute Artists

Classique Productions

Many other organizations and individuals as well...