Sat Jun 11, 2005 02:01 AM ET

By Melinda Newman

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Paris Hilton isn't the only one getting attention for her controversial Carl's Jr. ad.

Although some viewers may not have noticed anything other than the barely clad Hilton (and, perhaps, the hamburger), the commercial features a raw, sultry cover of Cole Porter's "I Love Paris," performed by indie Los Angeles singer-songwriter Eleni Mandell.

A full-length version of the song hit iTunes June 8 via Hum Recordings, a division of Hum Music, the house that produced the song for the commercial.

But there is much more coming. Independent promoters are promoting the single to rock radio after Carl's Jr. received a number of requests from stations for a longer version.

Mandell finds it amusing that after five self-released albums, she could owe her commercial breakthrough to Paris -- the city and the woman -- and to beef. "Well, I've been wondering for a long time when the hell it would happen and how," she says. "I certainly wouldn't have guessed that it'd be a rock version of a jazz song sung for a hamburger. It's somehow very apropos ... or ironic. Maybe even both at once, if that's possible."

Hum Recordings is planning a CD with several remixes of the song. "We're trying to get Paris involved in one of the remixes," Hum Music president Jeff Koz says.

Hum also is talking to Mandell about including some of her past material on the disc. Koz hopes to have the project out by summer's end.

Because Hum itself had licensed the song and created Mandell's track, it did not have to wait for approval from Carl's Jr. or the fast-food chain's ad agency.

Given Hilton's international celebrity, the controversy over the commercial has made global news, leading to inquiries from as far away as France and Japan about Mandell and the song. "So we're talking to iTunes' international division," Koz says. "We just have to see how this goes. We want to show (that the song) can stand on its own."

As for Mandell, who is working on a sixth album, only good can come of the attention. "If this introduces me or my music to a new audience, I would be thrilled," she says. "Nothing wrong with that."

Reuters/Billboard