Strawberry Festival Bittersweet

Though such international acts as Justice, HIM and Explosions in the Sky performed, the most-talked about artist at the event was the 50-year-old Hong Kong actress Maggie Cheung, who debuted her new rock band on Thursday.

Mixing originals and covers of songs by the likes of Rihanna and Teresa Tseng, Cheung apparently underwhelmed the large audience, according to the Shanghaist website, which went on to report that scores of people walked out of the performance.

Attendees who saw the show commented that her voice was constantly off-pitch.

Cheung, who won a Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival for her acting in the movie “Clean,” where she actually played a rock singer, is rumored to be overhauling her career in favor of music.

The Strawberry gig was her stab at being taken seriously. Local reports said she and her band were rehearsing for up to five hours a day before the festival, which may have led to heightened expectations.