CONNOQUENESSING TWP - They say "All's fair in love and war," which may or may be true, but the adage also happens to sum up the rules for the television dating show "ElimiDate."

Katie Russell, 26, wouldn't reveal whether she gets the guy or if one of the other three women on a group date gets him.

Her episode of may-the-best-girl-win will air on The WB, Channel 22, at 11:30 p.m. today. It will be rebroadcast on FOX 53 at midnight in a couple of weeks, as well.

"It's all about competitiveness. You've got to fight to get his attention," Russell said.

In her episode, in which four girls vie for one guy, the object was a man from the Pittsburgh area in his mid-20s and a student at Allegheny College.

Encouraged to be catty with each other, the contestants verbally pluck and claw at each other's flaws while grooming themselves to present a perfect picture.

"It was fun to be able to say whatever I wanted," said Russell, adding that her performance was also not a fair portrayal of her true personality.

"When you go (on the show) you're portrayed as something" other than yourself, she said.

Her TV persona was intended not to evoke a picture of the girl next door. Editing can also shape what the public will see.

"Nine hours of filming is cut down to 20 minutes. Anything can end up laying on the cutting room floor," said Russell, a certified pharmacy technician at Target in Butler and part-time model. She is a 1996 graduate of Sharon High School in Mercer County.

When she heard about the local auditions for the show, "I was the first one to fill out an application. It was about 20 pages long."

The show's advance staff conducted auditions in July at the Fox and Hound restaurant on Route 19 in Ross Township. She was interviewed by two producers and on tape, but had no idea whether she had made the show.

Telephone interviews followed and she found out a few weeks later she'd be on at date at the Oxford Athletic Club in Wexford.

Except for the other three women who are kept apart throughout the show's taping, "everyone was nice. I had a personal assistant for the day. She picked me up and did anything I needed. They paid for everything. A limo brought me home." The contestants are not paid and since they never get to know one other, no friends are made either, Russell said.