Jill has Lira in her purse

Lira is determined to get soul diva Jill Scott to record a song with her.

The multiple SA Music Awards winner was announced this week as the supporting act for Ms Jilly from Philly's concert at Johannesburg's Coca-Cola Dome on December 13. (She also supported John Legend at his Durban gig last week.)

She will be hoping for better luck this time around - a few years back she was close to clinching a deal to get soul star Teddy Pendergrass into a studio with her, before he died of colon cancer in January 2010.

Like Scott, Pendergrass also came from Philadelphia .

That's where Lira first met Scott three years ago - not that she has the fondest of memories about the day.

"I was there on tour," said Lira.

"It was a hot and humid day and she was strolling down the street and I thought I'd introduce myself to her and ask for a picture, which is something I avoid doing. But she was not up to it, and I understood."

They met again when Scott headlined last year's Cape Town International Jazz Festival.

Lira added: "I'm looking forward to seeing her again, and this time we will be performing on the same stage - perhaps after this we will appear on the same record."

Aside from her Rise Again - The Reworked Hits Collection, Lira has not released new material since 2011's Return to Love.

A couple of years back, a planned collaboration between super band Mi Casa and John Legend collapsed.

And Zonke whetted appetites when she and Anthony Hamilton teased fans about a collaboration last year.

Tickets for Jill Scott are available at Computicket, and are from R390 to R1 020.