The interview was going to have to be fast, because it was Friday night and 11-year-old Erik Salgado had a new Wii to play. Andy Hoang, his fifth-grade classmate, sat patiently next to him on the couch.

The two friends and Salem Elementary School students have had an eventful month.

On April 25, Salgado and Hoang won the National School Scrabble Championship in Providence, R.I. The vocabulary superstars beat over 200 other students from 22 states in seven rounds. They won a cash prize of $10,000 — quite an accomplishment for fifth graders playing kids as old as 14. And, as an added bonus, they got to appear on national television on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which aired May 5.

“Andy screamed” during his winning moment in Providence, said his mom. She couldn’t stop interjecting praise about her son for keeping up good grades and being an all-around sweetie pie. Andy’s patience finally collapsed when she pulled out an old birthday card. “I cried when I read it,” she said. He buried his face in the couch.

It’s hard being a celebrity.

Reflecting on the win, they think luck played a part. “We had to draw good tiles,” said Andy, who’s only been playing for six months.

And staying humble helps. “We didn’t think we had very good odds at winning,” said Erik, who’s been playing for two years. Both boys belong to Salem Elementary School’s Scrabble Club and play almost every day. Their original goal was to win 10th place — which brings the lowest cash prize of $150.

Of course, they did a little better than that.

“It was really exciting,” said Andy, who plans to split his $5,000 share between church, school, the bank, a great Mother’s Day present and a few Legos. Erik said, with a sheepish grin, he had the Wii picked out all along.

Their strategy included “vowel and consonant dumps.” For example, they played the words “eerie” and “zoeae” quite a few times. The latter has “something to do with insects,” said Erik.

After the hoopla died down a little at home, the boys had to get ready for their “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” appearance. They flew with their moms to Los Angeles, stayed at the swanky Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard and played a round of Scrabble against Kimmel and fellow guest Lil’ Kim in front of millions of viewers.

Luck was not on their side this time. Andy and Erik drew almost all vowels. “The tiles were so big, they’re hard to shuffle,” said Andy.

Kimmel, a surprise Scrabble ace, got a bingo on his first turn, which means he used all seven tiles at once. His word was “tinseled” — which, when added to the 50-point bingo bonus, made a big lead for Andy and Erik to overcome.

“Take them to the back,” Kimmel instructed as he and Lil’ Kim pretended to steal their Rhode Island trophies, confetti raining down over them.

But the boys kept their cool.

“We could have won it,” said Erik. “If we played a whole timer game,” added Andy.

Kimmel and his staff made it up to them by giving Erik the Wii and Andy a deluxe set of Legos.

Their mothers, Adair Salgado and Mymy Tran, couldn’t be more proud.

“Lil’ Kim fell in love with Andy,” said Tran, who teaches piano. “Him saying [on the show] he was going to buy a gift for me was a surprise.”

Salgado savored the whole experience, from the “great” people at the national tournament to the Jimmy Kimmel staff. She took the boys to the weekend tournament and served as their coach.

“They did so well,” she said. “Some of those teams had an expert Scrabble coach.”

The boys are recuperating and getting back to their normal schedules, which still include daily Scrabble matches. Erik is a black belt in Karate, plays basketball and is in Boy Scouts. He hopes to go to UNC-Chapel Hill and be a rocket scientist. Andy swims and plays the piano. He has the modest goal of getting a medical degree from Duke and curing the swine flu.

“It is going around,” he said.

But before they do any of that, they plan to take a break from the limelight, which was somewhat surreal.

“I sounded weird on TV,” said Erik. “Me too,” said Andy.

See the boys take on Kimmel and Lil' Kim here: youtube.com.