Small Liverpudlian singer inspiring in tango? Just a little (9)
I believe the answer is:
scintilla
'a little' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'small liverpudlian singer inspiring in tango?' is the wordplay.
'small' becomes 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size).
'liverpudlian singer' becomes 'cilla' (Cilla Black, singer from Liverpool).
'inspiring' is an insertion indicator.
'tango?' becomes 'T' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'in'+'t'='int'
'cilla' enclosing 'int' is 'cintilla'.
's'+'cintilla'='SCINTILLA'
'just' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for scintilla that I've seen before include "The smallest amount" , "A spark; a trace" , "littlest bit" , "little bit" , "Minute spark" .)