“Christina Aguilera has the vocal chops, the look, the strut and millions of new fans thanks to her stint as a judge on TV singing contest “The Voice.”

The singer, who had global hits with “Genie in a Bottle” and the female empowerment ballad “Beautiful” more than 10 years ago, bids to reclaim her status as one of the world’s biggest pop stars with her new album, “Lotus,” released on Tuesday.

Aguilera, 31, says the title and the mixture of dance-pop, ballads and rock-tinged tracks reflect the hopes and disappointments of recent years that saw her 2010 tour for album “Bionic” canceled, a divorce and the box-office flop of her debut feature film, the musical “Burlesque. Lotus represents the unbreakable flower that stands the test of time. No matter the roughest of weather conditions, it remains strong and continues to thrive. (The album) is a nod to my fans who have been here with me the whole journey, and a nod to myself,” she said.

“Music industry experts say Aguilera’s popularity on “The Voice” – where her powerhouse performances leave aspiring pop stars in the dust – may not guarantee huge album sales and won’t give the singer a No. 1 hit.” Read more here.

U2 frontman Bono is back in action with his ONE Campaign, and he has a message to the USA – do not forget about foreign aid.

“Irish rocker and anti-poverty campaigner Bono will appeal to Democrats and Republicans during a visit to Washington this week to spare U.S. development assistance programs from cuts as Congress tries to avert the looming “fiscal cliff” of tax hikes and spending reductions early next year.”

The U2 lead singer’s visit comes as the Obama administration and congressional leaders try to forge a deal in coming weeks to avoid the economy hitting the “fiscal cliff” – tax increases and spending cuts worth $600 billion starting in January if Congress does not act. Read more here.

Although cassette tapes are deemed useless to most people researchers at IBM are trying to keep this 60-year old technology relevant for at least the next decade and they are getting help from rising energy costs, which are forcing companies to look for cheaper alternatives to stacks of power-hungry hard drives.

Evangelos Eleftheriou and his colleagues at IBM Research in Zurich, Switzerland, have developed a cassette just 10 cm by 10cm by 2cm that can hold about 35 terabytes of data, the equivalent of a library with 400 kilometers of bookshelves.

“It is really the greenest storage technology,” Eleftheriou told Reuters. “Tape at rest, consumes literally zero power.” Check out the rest of the article here.

Artists like Katy Perry, Dave Matthews, and John Mellencamp have come to rescue politics while Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, and Christina Aguilera have come to rescue the victims of Hurricane Sandy that afflicted the north east. When artists and TV networks move in on natural catastrophes everybody wins, or at least we hope so. The artist benefits from press and the spike of music sales while the TV networks such as NBC gain increased viewership. I’m not sure how this effects the victims of Hurricane Sandy. The goal is to help raise funds, awareness and logistical support but the channeling of funds are always in dispute.

In better news, The ‘Bethenny Ever After’ star donated $50,0000 to the Red Cross to support the hurricane relief effort in New Jersey while other stars are encouraging fans to donate.

1. Rock You Like a Hurricane (Scorpions)
2. I Will Survive (Gloria Gaynor)
3. Ridin’ the Storm Out (REO Speedwagon)
4. Riders on the Storm (The Doors)
5. It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine) (R.E.M.)
6. Like a Hurricane (Neil Young)
7. Here Comes the Rain Again (Eurythmics)
8. Blowin’ in the Wind (Bob Dylan)
9. Thunderstruck (AC/DC)
10. Hello Hurricane (Switchfoot)