For ‘Emojination’ hosts Miles and Chamyto, rapport matters a lot at work

Part of every Kapatid’s Sunday entertainment fare is “Emojination,” which features the trio of Maja Salvador, Miles Ocampo, and Chamyto Aguedan. They promise a weekend afternoon full of fun and games.

Prior to presenting the show, Miles and Chamyto, whose hosting skills are also showcased in “Eat, Bulaga” and “#MaineGoals,” respectively, had the chance to play in “Emojination” and experience the whole gamut of emotions contestants go through round after round of games.

“Chamy and I tried to play before we became co-hosts of Ms. Maja,” said Miles when she and Chamyto took a break from their taping to grant The STAR a virtual interview.

“I really enjoyed it. Akala mo rin kapag nanood ka, parang ang dali-dali lang naman nito (As a viewer, you will think of it as easy). ‘Pag nanduon ka na, naghahalo yung excitement, yung kaba (Once you’re there, you get to experience mixed feelings of excitement and nervousness). Iba yung games (The games are different),” added she, winner of the Metro Manila Film Festival 2023 Best Supporting Actress award for her sterling performance in “Family of Two,” also starring Sharon Cuneta and Alden Richards.

As hosts, Miles, Chamyto, and Maja, who know every segment’s mechanics like the back of their hands, simply have fun on set and enjoy the company of everyone, from the contestants to the crew.

“Malaking factor po talaga kapag maganda yung rapport mo with your co-hosts and the team (It’s a big factor if you have established good rapport with everyone),” said Miles.

“Work is light even if there are technical difficulties. Masayang masaya yung group (The group is just having fun). Once we start taping, we do things smoothly.”

Chamyto also agreed with Miles on the importance of rapport because it’s easier for them to exchange lines and repartee.

However, initially, he had to make himself comfortable collaborating with Maja and Miles as more experienced stars. At some point, he had finally found his way as a host. Chamyto shows his best element in the segment “Jam Ka Magaling” and his strength in singing. Maja gets to channel her diva persona for viewers’ entertainment.

“Jam Ka Magaling” has two pairs of contestants who need to complete and guess the lyrics of a song. The other segments are “Two or False,” where participants guess a word from a set of emojis; “Match Magaling,” another guessing game that also sees pairs match two emojis to figure out the compound word; and “A Pair To Remember,” in which contestants have to find the pair of every emoji from a deck of cards.

“I will not forget the ‘late’ board passers,” shared Chamyto about his favorite episodes. “Parang may edad na sila nung nag-take ng board (They were older when they decided to take the board). I can relate to it because I was also, like, late to be given a break in the entertainment industry.”

He added that the episode put across the message that it’s never too late to chase your dream and pursue it.

With Miles, her choice was the episode on surfers. “I really wanted them to win. (I felt that) if I had to cheer for them, I would do,” said she. “Kung pwedeng may kampihan lang talaga (if I could only take sides, but I couldn’t)… when they talked about their daily lives, we learned that they would save lives even if (their own safety would be at risk).”

Like Maja, who gave her two cents’ worth on any subtle similarities and clear differences between hosting and acting, in an interview with this paper, Miles had this to say: “Both require you to always be alert. When you’re acting in a scene (with your fellow actors), you have to say yes (or react) all the time to them, right? Every time your co-host throws you a line, you need to be alert and respond to it right away.”

Chamyto chimed in that the hosts need to be just themselves as compared to actors who imbibe and inhabit characters.

(Watch Miles, Chamyto, and Maja in “Emojination” Sundays at 4:30 p.m. over TV5 and on the same day at 7 p.m. on Buko Channel, Channel 2 on Cignal and SatLite.)