  Light curves of ellipsoidal variables collected by the Optical Gravitational
Lensing Experiment (OGLE) were analyzed, in order to search for dormant black
hole candidates. After the preselection based on the amplitude of ellipsoidal
modulation, each object was investigated by means of the spectral energy
distribution fit, which allowed us to select objects that are in close
agreement with the spectrum of a single stellar object. After this final step
of the preselection process, we were left with only fourteen objects that were
then investigated in detail. For each candidate, we estimated basic physical
parameters such as temperature, mass, luminosity, and, in some cases, radial
velocity semi-amplitude. One of the objects turned out to be a spotted star
while the rest are considered black-hole binary candidates. In the end, we
present an alternative explanation for the ellipsoidal modulation in the form
of contact binaries, which are not only vast in number, contrary to black-hole
binaries, but are also in much better agreement with the radial velocity
estimates for some of the systems analyzed. Even if the presented arguments
suggest a noncompact character of the companion objects, each of them should be
observed spectroscopically in order to verify the compact object hypothesis.
