Even Skinny's performing twirls as a candidate (7)
I believe the answer is:
nominee
'a candidate' is the definition.
('nominee' can be a synonym of 'candidate')
'even skinny's performing twirls' is the wordplay.
'even' becomes 'een' ('e'en' can be a synonym of 'even').
'skinny's' becomes 'im' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'performing' becomes 'on' (I've seen this in other clues).
'twirls' says the letters should be written backwards (I've seen 'twirling' mean this).
'een'+'im'+'on'='eenimon'
'eenimon' back-to-front is 'NOMINEE'.
'as' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for nominee that I've seen before include "Candidate - appointed person" , "figure entering field?" , "One named to act for another" , "Person standing for office" , "someone to act for them" .)